Varun Dhawan Says He 'Really Struggled' In Bollywood: 'Gave Auditions With Another Name To Hide That...'

Varun Dhawan made his full-fledged Bollywood debut in 2012 with filmmaker Karan Johar’s directorial venture Student of the Year. He made his debut alongside Siddharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt. Varun and Alia’s debuts garnered much appreciation but also opened the floodgates of the nepotism debate in the industry. In an old interview which has now resurfaced on Reddit, Varun spoke about the struggles he had to face to become successful.

Varun said, “I knew (that I wanted to be an actor), but I don’t think anyone else believed it… My dad made it very clear and my mom made it clearer to me that he’s never going to launch me. He’s not going to help you be what you want to be, you need to help yourself.”

“I’ve made this a point now to tell people that I’ve worked very hard. Your first few years when you enter the film industry is what ki nepotism, how it? Your entry is so easy… Somewhere after I did my first film, I didn’t get the films that in my head I wanted to get,” Varun said.

The actor added, “Raju Hirani didn’t come and offer me my next film. Sanjay Leela Bhansali didn’t come and offer me my next film. I had to really struggle to first get filmmakers to come and sign me, then sign those films and then make it work. To convince a man like Sriram Raghavan that I am right for that part, now what that process was, what 20 days I went to his office and auditioned… I don’t do a PR exercise to get that out. People don’t ask me also, I’m being very honest.”

He was then asked if he ever hid the fact that he was David Dhawan’s son. Varun recalled one such incident and said, “People say a lot that you’re David Dhawan’s son so you’ll get work. I thought, ‘Am I not talented?’… I started giving auditions with another name. I auditioned for Life of Pi and nearly got Dhobi Ghat, but then Kiran Rao found out whose son I am and Aamir told my dad.”

Varun revealed that he would audition as “Rajesh” or “Ramesh” and even ended up getting an ad for a cola company. Varun said that once he got the ad on his own merit as a 14-year-old boy, his belief in himself was reinforced.