BOMBAY TIMES (January 16, 2018)

It’s not often that an actor races ahead of his peers, and, riding on his versatility, establishes himself as a bankable name, irrespective of the genre.

Post the success of Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2, Varun Dhawan, who began his acting innings with Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year (2012), has done just that.

Some industry veterans attribute his good run at the box office to smart choices of roles and films. A big-ticket actor observes, “After Main Tera Hero and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Varun chose a serious subject like Badlapur and then followed it up with a dance film, ABCD 2. Also, he has an intense movie, October, lined up after outings with lighter content like Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2. He doesn’t seem to believe in playing it safe.”

Another filmmaker points out, “Varun is seamlessly shifting genres and roles, giving the audience variety. He seems to have found a way to balance the Salman Khan and Govinda kind of entertainers along with dark and intense subjects.”

No wonder then that Varun, who has a huge fan following among the teens and kids, has consistently enjoyed an impressive success ratio at the box office. In fact, his films have registered high viewership on satellite television as well, with Judwaa 2 clocking the highest ratings after Dangal among the movies broadcast in 2017.

With Shoojit Sircar’s October and a couple of other interesting subjects in the pipeline, Varun is all set to up his game in 2018, too.