Varun Dhawan

Varun Dhawan

Born	24 April 1987 (age 27)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2012–present
Relatives	See Dhawan family

Varun Dhawan (born 24 April 1987) is an Indian actor working in Bollywood films. The son of film director David Dhawan, he studied Business Management from the Nottingham Trent University after which he worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the 2010 drama My Name Is Khan. Dhawan made his acting debut with Johar's 2012 romantic comedy Student of the Year, a box office success, for which he received a Filmfare nomination for Best Male Debut. In 2014, he starred as the protagonist of two commercially successful comedies— Main Tera Hero and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

Contents

• 1 Life and career
• 2 Other work
• 3 Filmography
• 4 Awards and nominations
  • 4.1 Other honours
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Life and career

Dhawan was born on 24 April 1987 to David Dhawan, a film director, and Karuna Dhawan.^[1][2] He has an elder brother, Rohit, who is a film director.^[3] He has a degree in Business Management from the Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom.^[4][5] Prior to his acting career, Dhawan worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar on his directorial My Name Is Khan (2010).^[6]

Dhawan at a promotional event for Student of the Year, 2012

Two years later, Dhawan made his acting debut with Johar's romantic comedy Student of the Year alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt.^[6] He was cast as Rohan Nanda, the teenage son of a rich businessman, who competes with his girlfriend (played by Bhatt) and best friend (played by Malhotra) to win an annual school championship. Film critic Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama reviewed: "Varun is excessively talented, supremely confident and hardly look like first-time actor. Photogenic, charming and self-assured,shine in his respective role, enact his part with gusto. Varun is a talent one can't help but marvel at. In fact, Varun is here to stay!"^[7] CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand added: "It’s Varun Dhawan who stands out with a confident, charming turn, able to tackle both comical and vulnerable scenes with ease".^[8] Student of the Year was a financial success,^[9] grossing 700 million (US$11 million) domestically.^[10]
In 2014, Dhawan had two film releases. His first appearance was in the comedy Main Tera Hero (2014), a remake of the Telugu film Kandireega, which was produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and directed by his father.^[11][12] He played the leading role of Sreenath "Seenu" Prasad, an impetuous brat, who is in love with Ileana D'Cruz's character but is forced to marry the character played by Nargis Fakhri. Raedita Tandon of Filmfare reviewed: "[T]his movie belongs to Varun Dhawan. From the very first frame, Varun has your undivided attention. He may not be Govinda but his comic timing is impeccable. Especially, for a one-film old actor. Screen presence, acting chops; Prabhudheva like dancing skills, this boy has it all."^[13] Main Tera Hero proved to be a box office success with worldwide earnings of 770 million (US$12 million).^[14] Dhawan then played Rakesh "Humpty" Sharma, a flirtatious Punjabi boy who engages in a romantic affair with an engaged woman, in the romantic comedy Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Co-starring Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Shukla, the film was described as a tribute to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) by Johar, who served as producer.^[15] Rohit Khilnani of India Today praised Dhawan's screen presence, and Nandini Ramnath of Mint noted how much he stood out in the "few quieter scenes" of the film.^[16][17] Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania proved to be a box office hit, and Dhawan's third consecutive success.^[18]
As of December 2014, Dhawan has completed work on Sriram Raghavan's action-thriller Badlapur, co-starring Yami Gautam, Huma Qureshi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, in which he plays a man who over the course of 15 years avenges the murder of his wife.^[19][20] He is filming opposite Shraddha Kapoor for a sequel to the dance film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance, entitled ABCD 2, in which he portrays the real life character of Suresh Mukund, a dancer from Mumbai who wins the 2012 World Hip Hop Dance Championship.^[21][22][23] He has also committed to star in his brother, Rohit's action drama Dhishoom alongside John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez.^[24]

Other work

Alongside his acting career, Dhawan performs on stage and has co-hosted two award ceremonies. In 2013, he performed at the Filmfare, Screen, and Stardust award ceremonies, and at an event in Hong Kong.^[25] He hosted the 2013 Stardust Awards ceremony with Sidharth Malhotra and Ayushmann Khurrana, and a segment of the 59th Filmfare Awards.^[26] He was also part of the 20th Screen Awards, co-hosting the show alongside Shahrukh Khan and Richa Chadda.^[27] In 2013, Dhawan performed at a special event alongside Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor and Huma Qureshi to raise funds for the flood-affected victims of Uttarakhand.^[28]

Filmography

Varun Dhawan at Filmfare Awards Nomination Bash 2013.

Key

Denotes films that are in production

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2010	My Name Is Khan		Assistant director
2012	Student of the Year	Rohan Nanda
2014	Main Tera Hero	Sreenath "Seenu" Prasad
2014	Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania	Rakesh "Humpty" Sharma
2015	Badlapur	Raghu	Post-production[19][20]
2015	ABCD 2	Suresh Mukund	Filming[22][23]

Awards and nominations

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result
2012	Student of the Year	BIG Star Entertainment Awards	Most Entertaining Actor (Film) Debut - Male	Nominated[29]
2013		ETC Bollywood Business Awards	Most Profitable Debut (Male)	Nominated[30]
		Filmfare Awards	Best Male Debut	Nominated[31]
		Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards	Best Debutant – Male	Nominated[32]
		Screen Awards	Most Promising Newcomer – Male	Nominated[33]
		Lions Gold Awards	Favorite Debut (Male)	Won[34]
		Zee Cine Awards	Best Male Debut	Nominated[35]
		Stardust Awards	Breakthrough Performance – Male	Won[36]
			Superstar of Tomorrow – Male	Nominated[37]
		Star Guild Awards	Best Male Debut	Nominated[38]
		Times of India Film Awards	Best Debut - Male	Nominated[39]
2014	Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania	Stardust Awards	Best Actor – Comedy/Romance	Won[40]
			Superstar of Tomorrow – Male (also for Main Tera Hero)	Nominated[41]
		BIG Star Entertainment Awards	Most Entertaining Actor in a Romantic Film – Male	Nominated[42]
	Main Tera Hero	Big Star Entertainment Awards	Most Entertaining Actor in a Comedy Film – Male	Nominated[42]
			Most Entertaining Actor – Male	Nominated[42]
2015	Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania	Screen Awards	Best Actor	Nominated[43]
		Star Guild Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated[44]
	Main Tera Hero		Best Actor in a Comic Role	Won[44]
		Screen Awards	Best Actor (Popular Choice)	Nominated[45]