Varun Dhawan & David Dhawan Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s belonged to Main Tera Hero; the 2020s to Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai. Varun Dhawan acted in every film; David Dhawan directed all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• David Dhawan didn't want to cast his own son Varun in 'Main Tera Hero' (2014). He thought nepotism would backfire. Varun had to audition twice and prove he could match the comic timing of his father's regulars like Govinda.
• On 'Judwaa 2' (2017), David let Varun improvise entire scenes. Varun would do a take exactly as written, then a second take where he went wild. David always picked the wild one. That's how the 'Chalti Hai Kya 9 Se 12' reprise got its over-the-top energy.
• Because of 'Main Tera Hero', Varun became the first actor to successfully reboot a David Dhawan comedy without Govinda. That film directly led to David trusting Varun with 'Judwaa 2' — a sequel to a 1997 Salman Khan hit. No other actor had pulled that off.
• On every David-Varun film set, David never called Varun by his name. He called him 'Govinda' — his old muse. Varun said it was his father's way of testing if he could handle the pressure of filling those shoes.