Varun Dhawan to Alia Bhatt and more: Bollywood loves working with family

In a few weeks’ time, Shraddha Kapoor will venture into a “different world”. She will play the role of gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s sister, Haseena Parker, in director Apoorva Lakhia’s next film Haseena. What’s interesting is that her real brother, Siddhanth Kapoor, will play her reel brother, Dawood.

“How nice is that (to have her brother starring in the film)? It all happened very organically. Actually, Apoorva sir was in talks with him first. He approached me much later. I am excited [to work with Siddhanth],” says Shraddha.

Great journey

Shraddha and Siddhant are not the only family members who are working together in a film. Sonam Kapoor — after Aisha (2010) and Khoobsurat (2014) — will once again star in her sister Rhea Kapoor’s production venture Veere Di Wedding. “I am proud of Rhea. I am so happy that she has made a mark as a producer. People acknowledge the fact that she is doing different things,” says Sonam.

Experts also feel that such associations are advantageous. “When you work with your dad, sister or brother, it surely helps in terms of creativity. More than the director, your near and dear ones will know certain traits about you that no one else does. Those traits can be exploited well on screen,” says exhibitor-distributor Akshaye Rathi.

Anil Kapoor, who will team up with his nephew Arjun Kapoor in Mubaraka, says Arjun is a “fantastic” actor. “His career has just started. Aage aage dekho kya karta hai woh (see what he does in the time to come). I’m looking forward to teaming up with Arjun. It’s going to be a good journey,” he says.

Beyond acting

Interestingly, such collaborations extend to work that happens behind the camera too. For instance, Alia Bhatt’s sister Shaheen Bhatt is working on the script of Aashiqui 3, which is most likely to feature Alia and Sidharth Malhotra.

“Shaheen is a talented writer. I am waiting for her to pen her own feature film, which she is working on currently. She is the only genius in the family. She is funny and witty, but at the same time, she is a simpleton,” says Alia.

Similarly, Varun Dhawan, who worked with his father David Dhawan in Main Tera Hero (MTH; 2014) and with his brother Rohit Dhawan in Dishoom, is set to team up with his father again in Judwaa 2. “Dad is more of a friend. He is not strict. But he can get strict if he has to. We are now getting ready [to work on the film], and I feel as if it’s my first project. I am dying to start working with him,” says Varun.

Rathi feels that the personal equation an actor shares with his or her director adds to the performance. “The way David extracted comedy out of Varun in MTH was unmatched. In such cases (family members working together), it helps in zeroing in on certain special qualities (of the actor) and highlighting them, especially since you know the actor on a personal level,” he says.

Another pair is Anushka Sharma and her brother Karnesh Sharma. The two turned producers with NH 10 (2015), and are working on multiple films together. Anushka agrees that she and Karnesh “have never had a difference of opinion”. “Our approaches may differ, but our final result is the same. We are very close. If we didn’t have such a strong relationship, things would’ve been different. He is my best friend,” she adds.