Currently, the belief in the industry is that big-ticket movies are the secret to box-office success. It is Varun Dhawan’s beat, something he can do effortlessly. Yet, the actor has chosen the introspective Bawaal as his next.

To explain the move, he points to a Harivansh Rai Bachchan quote. “Mann ka ho toh achcha, na ho toh aur bhi achcha. My mother always quotes this couplet to me that talks about believing in the divine plan. It’s as if the universe had a different plan for me and I followed it,” begins the actor.

After meeting director Nitesh Tiwari multiple times with no specific project in mind, Dhawan was offered Bawaal. The Amazon Prime Video offering is a romantic drama as well as a story of self-discovery, and relies heavily on the leads’ chemistry. Dhawan says he couldn’t have asked for a better co-star than Janhvi Kapoor, but is quick to add that their first meeting was awkward.

“The first time I met her was at a party, after the film had got confirmed. She was happy to see me and was probably going to hug me. But her joy went a notch above, and she broke the glass in her hand. I was amused by her, and the more I got to know her, I realized that she is one of a kind.”

Armed with a good co-star, a solid script and Tiwari’s guidance, Dhawan went into the world of Bawaal. “Nitesh sir and I would talk about my character a lot. How does Ajju talk? What are his relationships like? I have a strong Anil Kapoor reference for Ajju. One of the technical changes Nitesh sir made was to make me say my lines slower. He would act out the emotional scenes. That’s the benefit of working with a writer-director; you know exactly what the vision is. When I did October [2018], it was similar—I surrendered to Dada [Shoojit Sircar].”

With Bawaal, Dhawan wants to go beyond the mainstream hero and do films that satisfy the artiste in him. His conviction has strengthened after working with Tiwari. “My takeaway is that if one works with a good writer and director, the performance will be good. I went through introspection and signed three films—Bhediya, JugJugg Jeeyo and Bawaal. These films have given me the strength to choose different [stories]. If you do good work, it will work. You can’t care too much about what everyone thinks.”