(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) a menace a whole lot of craziness and ?moob? dancing: varun dhawan and ileana d?cruz give city times the low-down on main tera hero
When varun dhawan dropped into the khaleej times office at the weekend with a radiant ileana d’cruz in tow to promote main tera hero it was tough not to be charmed almost instantly by his complete lack of starry airs. not all bollywood’s newbies are this down to earth.
“sorry to make you all work on a friday” he said adding a personal touch to the beginning of an engaging an often hilarious chat.
Brimming with enthusiasm about the film and his co-stars ileana and nargis fakhri (who seemed to hover in the room despite not being physically present thanks to her co-stars’ constant references to her) varun was happy to give city times some glimpses into the mad mad world of david dhawan’s main tera hero.
“i play this character called sreenath prasad – seenu – a middle class boy from ooty who doesn’t do very well in his studies is not liked a lot by his teachers and is the town’s resident ‘dennis the menace’.
He recalled a funny scene from the trailer where the entire town turns up at the railway station when seenu decides to leave.
“seenu says ‘jab maine shahar choda tha pura shahar mujhko chodne aya tha’ (when i left town the entire town came to see me off). his dad says ‘theek se dekh woh log ek haath se bye nahin bol rahein hain do haath se bol rahein hain’ (see properly they are bidding you goodbye not with one hand but two).” do haath (two hands) means don’t come back. so he leaves to continue his studies elsewhere; one thing leads to another and he finds love for the first time. and there’s a twist. a fourth member in this love story will be revealed once the film releases.”
Just two bollywood films old ileana exuded the kind of sparkling confidence you would expect from a seasoned veteran. but her character in main tera hero keeps a low profile she said.
“i play sunaina a very reserved girl who doesn’t really like to reveal too much. so when a menace like seenu comes along – she’s both amused and annoyed! however she goes through this really big transition; i can’t say too much but the second half of the film is so unpredictable and that was pretty much the main reason why i signed it.”Working with family
Varun seemed eager to assure us that he was treated like everyone else on set despite being the director’s son.
“i didn’t feel like i was his son i felt like i was being targeted. i’m kidding but i think he pushed me really hard and i’m glad he did; there was a lot of self-discovery as a creative person because his style of direction is completely different from anyone that i’ve ever worked with or will ever work with i think.”
Ileana was keen to get a word in about david dhawan and called him a “no-nonsense person”.
“he doesn’t believe in pampering his actors. there are times when he can really rub you the wrong way. he’s so brazen. but he’s just honest.”
Varun made much of his two “gorgeous” co-stars. “i think a lot of people have this misconception that because it’s a david dhawan comedy and because i’m the director’s son the women in the film have not got that much attention but i think nargis and ileana are going to really surprise people with the type of comedy they’ve done.”Friends forever?
On bonding with ileana and nargis varun said “because it’s a comedy it’s very important for people to actually get along even off set and talk to one another not about work but just be comfortable with each other. that doesn’t mean just making merry and being nice – it can even mean having an argument. but it has to be something real.”
Ileana who appeared to share a special off-screen chemistry with varun added: “i think we bonded because all of us are relatively new. i think what happens with more experienced actors is that they’re so good at what they do that they’re just brazen about everything. they don’t really care about anything. i think we sort of hold back a tiny bit wondering what the other person will think. so when we got along we didn’t really care if we were being goofballs in front of each other. but we sort of kept each other in check too.”Keeping it versatile
Varun was very vocal about not wanting to be stuck in a rut as far as roles went. “i don’t want to be predictable. i am mixing it up – a david dhawan film from a karan johar film is very different. my next is an out and out desi love story. after that comes a sriram raghavan film – a thriller. and then i go on to play a dancer in abcd2.”
And what does he want audiences to take away from main tera hero?
“i remember when my dad’s films would release in the ‘90s. a lot of old people would put their hands over his head and bless him and youngsters would run behind his car saying ‘kya paisa vasool picture banaya baap mazaa aa gaya’ (the film gave us our money’s worth we enjoyed ourselves) basically people saying stuff from their heart. i’ve done this film purely from the heart to evoke a very basic sentiment laughter. our film is a chance for people to come and forget their worries for a while. watch the film if you want to laugh at me or with me.”Varu
Pec-tastic: varun happily gave us a demonstration of the ‘moob’ dance that can be seen in the trailer of main tera hero and said:
I swear that was an improvisation and ileana said ‘varun do not do this they will keep it in the film’. but i was being seenu - i was into seenu’s character. ileana’s mum was upset. everyone’s mum was upset.” (laughs)On films:
I want be like an ipod shuffle. i don’t want the audience to know how i am as a person or what i’m suited best for. i want that the characters i play should make a significant impact on people’s minds.”
Christian bale’s performance in american psycho absolutely blew my mind. i always wanted to be an actor but this film motivated me to become a little bolder and more motivated about things.”
We have pushed the envelope in a good way. i’ve done a lot of embarrassing things in main tera hero.”On being down to earth:
I’ve grown up with very middle class india values. and i love that. but no one believes it now. even today when i flew first class and there was a rolls royce to pick us up i was a little taken aback. my mother has had a big hand in keeping me grounded.”Ilean
“people think that i’m this really serious person. i once had an interviewer tell me that i’m an ice maiden. but i’m a goofball.”
On nargis:
First impressions are based on what you read about the person. it was the same with me and nargis. i thought she was very quiet and uppity. i didn’t get to talk to her during the filming. she’d suddenly get serious and then crazy again and i’m like how can you be both like a child and really mature? but then i realised she’s both.
She’s someone i really admire; she has gone through so much. she’s such a strong woman a wonderful person. i think that’s why we really get along and the madness is just a bonus. we talk about the craziest things. she loves the shot of varun in the song galat baat where he does the pelvic thrust. she’s like ‘i just love him in those tight white pants when he does the pelvic thrust.’” (laughs)On varun:
He’s a gentleman. he’s very grounded and a lovely person. he’s very different from a lot of the actors i’ve worked with. he’s not my ideal man but he’s the kind of guy i think girls would love to take home to meet their parents.”
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