Actor Varun Dhawan recently opened up about how filmmaker Karan Johar launched him in Bollywood with the 2012 film Student of the Year. The actor, while on the show The Great Indian Kapil Show, recalled his journey of working with stalwart director Karan Johar as an assistant director in My Name is Khan, before making his debut.
Varun's father, veteran filmmaker David Dhawan, further on the show shared how the big opportunity eventually came Varun’s way. Varun, on the show, shared that he was determined to learn filmmaking and decided to assist Karan Johar on the SRK-Kajol movie, My Name is Khan.
“I told my mother that I wanted to assist Karan Johar. I went and met him and eventually began assisting him,” Varun recalled. David Dhawan further added that Varun worked as an assistant director on the Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol starrer My Name Is Khan.
Talking about that time, David said Varun was completely focused on learning the craft. “He assisted Karan Johar on *My Name Is Khan*. Whatever work he was given, he did it sincerely. I was very busy at that time,” he shared. The ace filmmaker added that the turning point came when Karan Johar approached them with the idea of launching Varun in a film.
Recalling the moment, David said that Karan later returned with photographs from a photoshoot that also featured Siddharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt's pictures “One day Karan said that next time he would come with photographs. He did a photoshoot with Siddharth and Varun, and Alia was also there. He showed the photos and said, ‘This is the pair. I am going to produce and direct the film.’”
He added that the project eventually became * Student of the Year, which released in 2012 and marked the Bollywood debut of Varun Dhawan alongside Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra. Talking about SOTY, the film, directed by Karan Johar, introduced the trio to the industry and went on to become a major commercial success.
Over the past 14 years, Varun Dhawan has been a part of hit movies like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Badlapur, Judwaa 2, October and Bhediya amongst others. Along with his ace filmmaker father David Dhawan, Varun has collaborated on several films together like Main Tera Hero, Judwaa 2 and Coolie No. 1.