With an enviable box office record, Varun Dhawan is a bona fide star. While others may feel the weight of early stardom, the actor finds it empowering; he says it allows him to take risks. "I am the guy who did Badlapur (2015); going against the tide is in my DNA. I can't be stuck with the chocolate boy image or the goody-two-shoes image," says Dhawan, whose last two releases ­- October and Judwaa 2 (2017) - are proof that he can effortlessly straddle the meaningful with masala movies.

While the Shoojit Sircar-directed venture established him as an artiste with a fine understanding of his craft, he also credits the film for bringing about a shift in his approach towards cinema. "Doing October wasn't a calculative move. I may be a brand today, but at the core, I am an artiste. It was such a pure film that I had to be part of it."