It literally became a cliffhanger for Varun Dhawan when a car perched precariously on a cliff for a stunt in Coolie No. 1 went horribly wrong. Recounting the experience with a shudder, Varun’s dad director David Dhawan says, “Nothing untoward happened. But it could’ve turned ugly. You see, the door of the car in which Varun was shooting got stuck. When we saw what was happening, we froze. But Varun remained totally calm. He was extricated from the car before any mishap.”
As a father shouldn’t David dissuade Varun from doing such dangerous stunts? David, who has been directing films for the last 45 years, shoots back, “Why only Varun? I recommend full safety for all my heroes when they do action scenes. In fact, we had taken safety measures for the stunt with Varun also. But these young actors want to push the action into the daring zone. Varun belongs to that enthusiastic generation that would do anything to ensure optimum authenticity on screen.”
However, as a concerned filmmaker and father, David Dhawan would not allow actors to take risks in the future. “My films usually don’t have complicated action. In the remake of Coolie No. 1, we decided to incorporate a couple of such scenes. But from now on, I won’t allow anything dangerous. Audiences come to my films for laughter, not thrills.”
Coolie No. 1 is almost complete. “We’ve two songs left to shoot, one of them to be filmed in Mauritius. After that, we will prepare for our May release.”
So how does David compare the new avatar of Coolie No. 1 with the old? “They are two separate beasts. They can’t be compared. Varun’s version is the Coolie No.1 for this millennium. We’ve incorporated two songs from the original, namely Husn Hai Suhana and Main Toh Raste Pe Jaa Raha Tha. Why hunt for new hits when I already have them?”
Varun Dhawan confirms he is fine. “It is true that the action scene went awry. But I am fine.”
