Varun Dhawan Says Aditya Chopra Refused To Cast Him In Action Film: 'You're Not At That Place Where I Can...'

At the trailer launch of ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’, Varun Dhawan shared an interesting anecdote about his desire to star in an action film, revealing that Aditya Chopra once turned down his request.

Varun Dhawan shared that Aditya Chopra once turned down his request of casting him in an action film.

Source : Instagram/@varundvn

The trailer of ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’ starring Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu was released on Tuesday. At the trailer launch, Varun shared an interesting anecdote about his desire to star in an action film, revealing that producer Aditya Chopra once turned down his request.  

Aditya Chopra refused to cast him in action film

Dhawan recalled a conversation with Chopra during the lockdown. “During lockdown, I met Aditya Chopra, he was playing badminton, and Maneesh Sharma was there. They were making ‘Tiger’ (3) at that time. I asked him, 'Why don’t you make an action film with a younger talent?'. He was like, 'I want to give you acting roles, and don’t want to give you action (roles)'. I kept pursuing it,” Dhawan was quoted as saying by PTI. 

Chopra's response, however, was focused on budget constraints. “He (Chopra) was like, 'I can't do that because I can't give you that budget right now. You're not at that place where I can give you such a big budget'. I kept thinking and then I messaged him and asked him, ‘What is the budget?’ And he gave me a figure, that this is the budget you need to make something big in action,” Dhawan said. 

Varun Dhawan asked Raj and DK about Citadel: Honey Bunny's budget

When ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’ was offered to Dhawan, his first concern was the budget. “The first thing I asked Raj and DK, and Amazon Prime Video, was about the budget. Because I got this knowledge from Aditya Chopra that you need this much budget to make something look good in action. I'm grateful to Amazon and Raj & DK for giving us this platform because that is needed to make something look big, to make actors look larger than life," Dhawan shared. 

Varun Dhawan thanks South Indian filmmakers

Dhawan, who is also set to star in the Atlee-produced action film ‘Baby John’, expressed his gratitude to South Indian filmmakers for offering him opportunities in the action genre.  

"I had a great time (doing action). It is a wake-up call, and hopefully, a lot of people take notice of this. Right now, I feel only South Indians are taking notice of me and giving me great opportunities in action, which is true. I started working with Raj & DK, and Sam, and next, I’m working with Atlee and Keerthy (Suresh, actress). Hopefully, that will lead the way for other people in our industry to give me (action roles),” he added. 

'Citadel: Honey Bunny', an Indian version of the global spy series Citadel, also features Kay Kay Menon, Saqib Saleem, and Sikander Kher. It is set to premiere on Prime Video on November 7.