Numbers prove why Varun Dhawan is the biggest star in his generation

It’s not easy to be Varun Dhawan in Bollywood.

‘Born with a silver spoon’ is a description many of us use while describing a star-kid. But Varun Dhawan is different, and his popularity transcends just the box office numbers.

He is a star for sure. Four out of his last five films have crossed the celebrated Rs 100 crore mark, and quite easily. One of these was declared a flop because of its high production cost. Excluding Dilwale, he still has four hits out of his last five films.

These films are ABCD 2, Dishoom, Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2.

Read: Went with Varun Dhawan purely on instincts: Shoojit Sircar on October

In 2017, he changed the dynamics of Bollywood. In a matter of months, he came out of the shadows of big names mentoring him. The super success and wide acceptance of Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa2 clearly demonstrated his pull.

They were his sixth and seventh hits in less than six years. That’s almost 78% success rate. The films which didn’t work so much were Badlapur and Dilwale.

Dilwale was mounted on Shah Rukh Khan and thus its more than Rs 100 crore collection was considered less than anticipated. Otherwise, it doesn’t seem like a loss-making venture.

Badlapur, Varun Dhawan’s only non-mainstream role so far, wasn’t meant to exactly put the box office on fire.

Considering it was Varun Dhawan’s only fourth release, it was a brave decision. Not many found flaws in his work either. It was an audacious selection of film for a the 28-year-old who looked absolutely fine in ‘masala’ situations.

He defines the term ‘star’ more easily than many of his contemporaries. And, he is not scared of taking chances either. Most of his roles are in his ‘comfort zone’, but is there anybody who can do it better than him?

Judwaa wasn’t a great film, but it was spontaneous and had Salman Khan at his comic best. Its songs were a rage during the ‘90s and thus it had a ‘nostalgia factor’ attached to it.

In 20 years since Judwaa released, its lead Salman Khan has become a legend of sorts. The audience wanted to see how Varun Dhawan was going to replace him while maintaining the same kind of chirpiness and exuberance. And boy, did he ace it?

He is the natural successor of the spot left vacant by Salman Khan and Govinda. While Salman Khan has moved on to creating the ‘bhai’ image via his action films, Govinda’s middle-class appeal is sorely missed. Varun Dhawan has filled that gap.

He has moved far away from Student Of The Year and it’s good for his appeal and expansion as a pan-India star.

With Shoojit Sircar’s October, he is upping his game. He is already a star who is in search of a film that could just wipe out any apprehensions about his capabilities. It’s not a good time for him to get typecast either.

He has a game plan, a successful streak and the earnestness of a newcomer. He maintains a nice combination of all this for a while and he will begin setting the rules of the game for people much senior to him.

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