ABCD 2 (Anybody Can Dance) star Varun Dhawan is unfazed by the criticism and overwhelmed by the love people are showering on the film. Bollywood Hungama’s FARIDOON SHAHRYAR spoke to him.
Do you feel heartened because people are saying that you have moved into the big league with the success of ABCD 2? I don’t know if I am there as yet, but I feel redeemed in a way. I think the release strategy by Disney was bang on. Everything worked in our favour, but when there is love for a film, it can go anywhere. When people want to see a film they go to see a film.
There has been criticism of 3D from some quarters. Perhaps if it was in 2D it would have been even better. Do you agree with that? No I don’t, because I am a fan of 3D. ABCD 2 releasing in 3D is the best choice because the way you see the dance, you will feel that they are almost near you. The Prabhudeva coin toss or the bubbles coming out and the whole flag thing in the climax, so for action films or dventure films, 3D is the way to go for me.
The dancing in ABCD 2 comes across as a team effort. It is felt that you emerge as a very fine leader in terms of the way you take everyone together, but some of them are very fine dancers in their own right. It was very difficult for me to be a leader. I am not a leader, maybe I am like a soldier, maybe I am someone who takes direction. So this was almost first time I was trying to be a leader or lead a team.
Obviously I’ve matured a lot since then, but it was all through seeing Remo sir, through seeing the real Suresh handling his people.
Somehow to lead these guys, somehow I needed to win the respect in dance. And that’s a very subconscious level of thought.
But why will they respect me if I can’t dance as well as them, if I can’t do the things they are telling me, if I was to use the body double for some of the stunts, if I was arrey main isme nahi dikh raha hoon? I won’t dance in the background.
In ABCD 2, Remo sir did a smart thing: 10 songs in the film and I dance in each and every song. No one else has danced in all the songs. I have danced in Prabhu sir’s song in the background, I’ve danced in Chunar, and in Sun Saathiya I also danced. In every song of the film I had to dance, no matter whose song it was.
There has been criticism regarding the writing in ABCD 2. It is being said that the dance sequences are some of the best that we’ve seen in the industry, but the scriptwriting is not up to the mark. Considering you’ve just done Badlapur where the writing was really wonderful and it is now expected that you will take an interest as far as the writing of your movies is concerned, do you feel the criticism is fair? Everyone has a right to critique it, but there are so many critics that you don’t know who is legitimate and who’s not.
I love the story, I love the flow, and when Tushhar and Remo sir told me the story I felt that it’s one of the best I have heard and it’s taken from real life.
As far as the screenplay goes, as far as the moments go, these are all real life events. This is something new and there’s spice and masala for everyone.
It’s not only for pseudo-intellectuals, so I’ll challenge that thought, because when you’re going to the film you’ll see kids are really loving it. We have aimed this film at a family audience and children. We have kept it that clean. So we had to get a sanitised version and try to put it on screen so it’s accessible for everyone to see.
bollywoodhungama.com