Actor Varun Dhawan opened up about a deeply personal moment during the filming of the much-anticipated war drama Border 2, revealing that his father, veteran filmmaker David Dhawan, was admitted to the ICU while the actor was shooting a critical sequence. The incident, Varun said, changed his perspective on online trolling and public scrutiny.
“Jab film ki shooting chal rahi thi, specially jab hum Babina mein Battle of Basantar shoot kar rahe the, us waqt mere father ko health scare hua aur woh ICU mein admit ho gaye. Obviously, Anurag and Binoy knew about it. Main turant flight leke ghar gaya,” Varun recalled at the film’s success event.
David Dhawan Urged Varun to Return to Set
Meeting his father in the ICU, Varun was surprised when David Dhawan asked him about leaving work midway.
“ICU mein jaake maine dad ko dekha. Unhone mujhse kaha, ‘How can you come back? Tum wapas kaise aa gaye? Tumhari shooting chal rahi hai.’”
Despite the health scare, David encouraged Varun to return to the set the next morning to continue shooting.
“Maine kaha, ‘Kya bol rahe ho papa? Main yahin rahunga.’ Lekin unhone bola, ‘Hum log picture banate hain, logon ko entertain karte hain. Producer ka bahut paisa laga hota hai. Tum kal subah wapas jao aur apna call time meet karo.’”
Perspective on Online Trolling
Varun admitted that the episode helped him put public scrutiny into perspective.
“Ye, pehle toh trolling sabki hoti hai. Aajkal it’s become a thing, it’s become fashion. Some people can take it in their stride, some people can’t. Toh luckily, I could take it,” he said.
With Border 2 now successfully wrapped and released, the actor said the experience reinforced the importance of focusing on work and resilience, rather than letting online criticism affect him.
