'It puts a smile on people's faces': Varun Dhawan-Janhvi Kapoor on their love for feel-good films

Mumbai, Oct 1 (PTI) Actors Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor believe that romantic comedies, when infused with passion, a compelling story and captivating music, can brighten moods and leave audiences feeling happy.

The two actors are reuniting for the romantic comedy "Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari", following their previous collaboration in the 2022 romantic drama "Bawaal".

Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the movie features Varun and Janhvi as Sunny and Tulsi, who reunite in Delhi with the intention of rekindling their past romance with their exes.

To make their ex-partners jealous, they pretend to be a couple, leading to a series of humorous misunderstandings and deceptions.

"Shashank's aim was to make a full-on, family-friendly film where people will come and have fun... I feel you should make anything you have passion for; it should start with passion," Varun, who has acted in films like “Main Tera Hero”, “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania”, “Judwaa 2”, “Jugjugg Jeeyo”, told PTI in an interview.

“We've had a lot of fun making it, but at the end of the day, there are certain things in the film which will move you. I'm happy with the music of the film, we've three songs already in the top 100 of Spotify, and hopefully they'll move even higher into the list,” he added.

Janhvi said she was excited to dive in the genre once again with “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari”. In August, she starred alongside Sidharth Malhotra in "Param Sundari".

“Romantic comedy is something that I think Shashank and Varun are very good at. For any actress, to be presented and get a character like this... I wouldn't pass on it for the world, I was dying to do it,” the actor said.

Growing up, both Dhawan and Kapoor enjoyed watching evergreen classics by filmmakers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Priyadarshan, renowned for infusing humour and warmth into their stories.

Varun said that, contrary to popular perception, making a rom-com is not easy and requires tremendous hard work.

“People always think that it's easy to do a light or a comedy film but actually to get comedy right is tougher. To get people into the theatre, to make them laugh, convince them that this is a world that we've made, where characters can speak those lines, etc, it’s very difficult. So, there’s a lot of work that goes behind all this.” Janhvi added, “And what's more meaningful than putting a smile on someone's face? For me, growing up, movies like this are what was synonymous with Bollywood to me.” Expressing his love for classics like “Andaz Apna Apna”, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” and “Judwaa”, Shashank said mainstream movies have received less respect in comparison to the more serious films.

“People tend to look at this genre thinking this is not cinema, this is not the so-called respected cinema. I don't look at it at all that way. For me, all the previous filmmakers who have done work like that, who've made comedies, social comedies, pure slapstick comedies, any kind of genre, I hold them in as much regard as I hold any other filmmaker who is considered to make intense cinema,” he said.

"There came a time when we decided, this intense, hard-hitting cinema is the only thing which is cinema, rest of it is, okay, it's just serving a fruit platter. I don't look at it that way. For me, this is absolute cinema as well.” Varun, 38, said he has plenty of time to do light-hearted movies.

“I still have a couple of years before I've to make a bigger switch in that sense. I can still do a lot of comedies and all that stuff. I think a filmmaker would have to tell me what that next thing would be. I'm doing 'Border 2' next, which is very different from what I'm doing.

"But I think right now, I still have some time where I can keep doing these happy-go-lucky movies. Every now and then they come because they really put a smile on people's faces.” Backed by Karan Johar’s Dharma Production, “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” also stars Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, Manish Paul, Akshay Oberoi, and others. It is set to be released on October 2. PTI KKP RB RB