Shoojit Sircar says people ask him ‘aapne Varun Dhawan ko kaise acting karaya’

Varun Dhawan delivered one of his finest performances in the film October, which was directed by Shoojit Sircar. In a recent interview on Unfiltered with Samdish, Shoojit opened up about the casting of a mainstream hero like Varun in a much different light in October, devoid of romance, drama or action. Shoojit explained how the casting happened. (Also read: Varun Dhawan says he broke down filming this scene in Shoojit Sircar’s October)
During the interview, Shoojit said: “Log mujhe puchte hain ki aapne Varun Dhawan ko kaise acting karaya (People asked me how did you make him act)? I tell them, yes; he is not my kind of an actor. I have not seen his films. I had seen glimpses of Badlapur. Bahut kam filmein dekhta hoon (I see very few films). I think he was brilliant. I think he is fantastic, usko bhi maalum nahi hain (he also does not know that). Usko script nahi diya (I did not give him a script) but he surrendered to me. He said, ‘Kyu dada?’ Maine bola tu agar script lega na toh tu mind mein banane lagega (If you get the script you will make a mental picture of him). I want you to flow.”
He then talked about casting Varun Dhawan and working with him on October. “He used to phone me that he wants to meet and I used to think why. I had started casting for October, was doing auditions all over, and many were shortlisted as well. Yet I was not finding Dan. One day he called me in the morning and I was leaving for Kolkata at 2 PM. He called me around 11 AM and said he wants to meet me. I told him to come and meet me right now. When he walked in he was clumsy, then he ended up spilling a glass of water. Suddenly his clumsiness caught my attention… he was behaving weirdly. I saw Dan in that weirdness- someone who is so unsure. That’s when he was cast.”
October released in 2018. It marked the Bollywood debut of Banita Sandhu who played the lead role of Shiuli in the film. Directed by Shoojit, the film garnered much love from audiences as well as critics.