Varun Dhawan regrets past box-office boasts on Koffee With Karan

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan recently admitted on Koffee With Karan Season 9 that he regrets boasting about his box-office record in the past. During an earlier appearance on Season 6 of the chat show, when host Karan Johar asked him to compare himself with Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, Varun had claimed that neither of them had matched his run of eight consecutive hit films. Looking back, Varun stated that the remark ultimately jinxed his success. Alongside Janhvi Kapoor on the latest episode, he explained that an actor should only let their professional output speak for itself rather than bragging about numbers. He added that he now prefers to emulate Ajay Devgn, noting how the senior star maintains the exact same calm demeanour through both commercial wins and failures. During the conversation, Karan Johar also brought up how Varun turned into an online meme because of his smile, with the actor pointing out that the smile actually originated from a scene in his debut film, Student of the Year. In addition, when asked to pick between recent standout performances, Varun chose Ranveer Singh's role as Hamza Ali Mazari in Dhurandhar over Ranbir Kapoor's portrayal of Ranvijay Singh in Animal. On the professional front, Varun's recent release was director David Dhawan's Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, which earned ₹74.83 crore worldwide and faced negative reviews. His upcoming projects include a yet-untitled movie directed by Rahul Pandey and backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, alongside the highly anticipated Bhediya 2, which was announced in 2023.

Context

Celebrity chat shows often revisit past remarks made by stars to prompt reflections on how their careers and perspectives have evolved over time. Box-office performance is a constant metric of success in the film industry, though public boasts can frequently draw scrutiny from audiences and media alike.