Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; July 17, 2015)

While speculations abound on the lead actor’s role in the desi version of The Fault In Our Stars, industry sources claim Varun Dhawan had recently been approached by the makers, but he declined the offer. When the film was announced last October, he was said to be under active consideration. However, he had debunked the rumours then.

A source close to the project says, “Following the success of his last outing, ABCD 2, the makers decided to approach him, but things didn’t quite work out due to date issues. Varun was always the first choice for the role. Getting him on board with Deepika Padukone would have also satisfied our fresh pairing criteria. Now, since he has mentioned his unavailability, we are approaching other actors.”

On July 15, hitlist had reported about Sushant Singh Rajput apparently being finalised to play Deepika’s love interest in the cine adaptation of the 2012 bestseller, which has already been converted into an eponymous English film.

Another source says, “Varun’s last two films, Badlapur and ABCD 2, proved to be box-office hits and both released within a span of just six months. So, he is being choosy about the kind of projects he takes up now.
He has managed to break away from his romantic hero image and wants to be associated with interesting films in future. So, he is taking his time before committing himself to any project.”

Varun, who currently has Rohit Shetty’s Dilwale, Karan Johar’s Shuddhi and Rohit Dhawan’s Dhishoom in hand, was unavailable for comment.

A source close to the actor says, “He hasn’t signed any film except these three.”