Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; July 22, 2019)

Varun Sharma forms a solid part of the supporting cast of all his films and has managed to carve out a space for himself in Bollywood. He’s popularly addressed as Choocha, the name of the first character he had played on screen. Year 2019, has been busy one for the actor; he’s been shuttling between sets and slipping in and out of various characters. Varun will be seen in three distinctly different films in the next few months, starting with Arjun Patiala that opens this week. Over to the actor:

Year 2019 has been a busy one for you; three of your films — Arjun Patiala, Khandaani Shafakhana and Chhichhore — are ready for release and Roohi Afza is being shot right now...
As a teenager, I used to read celebrity interviews in which people would often say, ‘I have a few good films in my kitty’. I feel very happy that today, I, too, can say that. I do have a few interesting films in my kitty. I will always cherish the year 2019 in my life because I’ve literally lived out of a suitcase, travelled from one set to another and played such a variety of characters, which is a dream for any actor.

Your first release this year is Arjun Patiala, a spoof comedy set in Punjab. It’s a popular genre in the West, but relatively new to Bollywood. Does it make you nervous?
I agree that it is a new genre for Bollywood and is something that has worked well in the West. I am a fan of films like Scary Movie and Deadpool, which are popular in that genre. Comedy can be a lot more fun if you try something unique. With Arjun Patiala, we’re not making fun of any other film or the police department or a community. We’re just making fun of our own film. We’ve used some common industry jargons, which infuse a lot of humour in various situations in the film. If this one works, trust me, there will be many more films in this genre.

You play a buddy cop, Onida Singh, in this film. It’s an addition to your list of quirky character names like Choocha in Fukrey, Sexa in the upcoming Chhichhore. How different is this one from your previous characters?
Onida Singh has a back-story. His parents couldn’t buy a TV and instead had a son, who they named after the brand. It’s different from all my past characters from the word go. I’m really lucky that I get some whacked out names for my characters in films, which is one of the reasons why they are remembered by the audience. Like I’m called Sexa in Chhichhore. I really like such character names. I’ve met a lot of quirky people while growing up in my home city, Jalandhar. I’ve stayed in those Punjabi colonies and hung out with some really funny people. I love it when I get to play quirky characters on screen that have peculiarities.

The week after Arjun Patiala, you have another comedy film, Khandaani Shafakhana releasing, which revolves around a girl and her tryst with running a sex clinic in Punjab. The trailer reminds you of Ayushmann Khurrana’s Vicky Donor...
Khandaani Shafakhana tries to break taboos around sex. We’re not aiming to clear the air on a particular problem related to sex. We’re basically trying to open conversations around it. We want people to speak up if they have a problem. Sometimes, not knowing enough about sex can lead to bigger troubles. We just want people to be okay to talk about sex. It’s dangerous to not know about it. In this film, I play Sonakshi Sinha’s supportive brother, who is such a vella; he’s busy trying to grow his hair. This film is special for me because Mrighdeep Lamba directed me in my first film (Fukrey) and this is his first outing as a producer.

It’s a general perception that men can’t have sex problems, and even if they do, it’s far harder for them to address it and deal with it. This also comes from a misconstrued idea of machoism. While growing up in Punjab, did you ever have a conversation pertaining to sex with your elders?
I’ve seen sex clinics tucked inside lanes near bus stands and stations; I’ve crossed them but never entered any of those clinics. It’s true that we don’t talk about sex. I didn’t get any sex education when I was growing up. Our conditioning was such that we could never discuss it even with our peers. Desires and problems had to be tackled at a very personal level. We had to educate ourselves on matters relating to sex on our own. Urban cities are a lot more progressive, because kids here are often given sex education at the right age. It’s true that men don’t believe that they can have sexual disorders. Sometimes, when people know they have a problem, they hide it from their spouse, which leads to broken marriages and chaos in their marital lives. In an entertaining way, we’ve only tried to tell people that it’s essential to talk about sex.

Sometimes, just talking about sex-related topics helps in understanding the subject better and coping with problems, if there are any. Right?
Look, even though we believe that we are a progressive society at large, we read sexologist’s columns in newspapers but never tell anyone that we’ve read it. We fear that people will judge us. When I have kids, I would like to keep a line of conversation on this open, because I want them to have frank chats with me about their problems when they face hormonal havocs.

You have been playing funny characters in all your films so far. While this is your forte and you seem to enjoy it, are you only being offered comic characters in movies because filmmakers think that you have cracked it in this genre?
I won’t ever stop working in comedy films because all the comedies that I’ve worked in are different from each other. I have done many comedies, but none of my roles are repetitive. Yes, I want to try other genres and I’ve really wanted to do that for a long time. But that does not mean that I will steer away from comedies in the bargain. I’ve done theatre where I did only serious roles and from the very first film, I’ve only done funny characters. It’s tough to make people laugh and I realised that after my first film. I also felt that I have it in me to make people laugh. It gives me a beautiful feeling when I do that. Of the offers that come my way, 80 per cent are for comic characters and the remaining 20 per cent are a mix and often don’t work out. The actor in me wants to try new genres, but I guess I’ll have to wait.

Do you ever fear that people will find it difficult to accept you in a serious role?
If I do it correctly, they will accept me. I am often asked me if I am scared to be typecast in this space. People don’t hesitate to call me a comedian. I am not a comedian; I am an actor who excels in a specific genre. I’m in no hurry to pick up a serious character and prove a point to anyone. The day I am convinced about a part that I like, I will take the plunge. But I will not tear away from a genre that has worked well for me so far. Finding acceptance is an issue and a challenge that every actor faces. Our personality traits show up in all the characters we portray on screen. The only constant in my life is the effort that I put in to register every character I play.