Varun Dhawan says Aditya Chopra refused to invest in an action film starring him: “He said I can’t do…”

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan made a surprising confession about Aditya Chopra. At the trailer launch of his upcoming actioner Citadel: Honey Bunny, Varun revealed that he pursued the head of Yash Raj Films to do an action film with him or other younger actors, but the producer was unwilling to take the risk. Varun revealed that the conversation took place during the making of Tiger and expressed his gratitude towards Raj & DK and Atlee for recognizing his acting talent.

“The reason I say (that the South Indian film industry is recognizing its value) is that during the lockdown, I remember meeting Aditya Chopra. He and Maneesh (Sharma) were doing Tiger 3 (starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif) at the time. I asked him, ‘Sir, why don’t you do an action film with younger talent.'” Varun revealed.

“He said, ‘Listen, I can’t do that because I’m giving you this quote right now. You are not in that place where I can give you such a big budget. I texted her and asked what the budget is. He gave me a figure and said this is the budget to do something big in action,” Varun recalled.

Finally, when the opportunity to star in Citadel: Honey Bunny landed on his doorstep, one of the first questions Varun asked the team was the budget. “I remember when this opportunity came, I even asked Raj & DK and Amazon about the budget because I have this knowledge from Aditya Chopra (about the budget). I am very grateful to Raj & DK and Amazon for giving me this opportunity,” said Varun.

Watch the trailer for Citadel Honey Bunny below:

About Citadel Honey Bunny:

Starring Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead, the Indian series born from the world of Citadel is produced by D2R Films, Amazon MGM Studios and Russo Brothers’ AGBO. The series will be connected to Citadel starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden.