📌 Key Points
- David Dhawan was a highly successful filmmaker in the 90s, known for comedy hits.
- A period of box office lull led him to avoid working with established stars.
- He made “Chashme Baddoor” with newcomers, citing star interference as a reason.
- Dhawan later made a comeback with films starring his son, Varun Dhawan.
Veteran filmmaker David Dhawan candidly discusses his decision to move away from working with big stars after a period of box office struggles. He reveals that creative interference from stars prompted him to embrace new talent, leading to films like “Chashme Baddoor.”
David Dhawan’s 90s Dominance & Later Struggles
In the 90s, David Dhawan was one of the most sought-after and successful filmmakers in Hindi cinema. He gave some of the biggest comedy hits in the industry in that decade, carrying it forward to the 2000s as well. But after that came a period of lull, during which many of his films did not perform well at the box office. In a recent conversation, the veteran filmmaker said that the period forced him to opt out of working with stars and bank on newcomers.
David said that after this, he decided to work with newcomers, and thus Chashme Baddoor was born. The 2013 comedy, a remake of Sai Paranjpye’s 1981 cult-classic film of the same name, starred newcomers Taapsee Pannu , Divyendu, Siddharth, and Pakistani actor Ali Zafar. “I made Chashme Baddoor out of anger. Chintu ji (Rishi Kapoor) barely had a role in it, and I insisted he do it for me. We had three new boys and a girl in it,” David recalled.
The Shift: Why Dhawan Chose Newcomers
Prior to this, David’s films had always featured big names, from Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan to Govinda and Akshay Kumar. But by Chashme Baddoor, the filmmaker said he wanted to avoid directing stars. “I wanted to get out of the rut of working with stars. If a director can write a good script, scenes, dialogues, and have a good song, why not make it with newcomers? Stars do interfere in the process of filmmaking, and on top of that, working with two actors isn’t easy at all,” he said.
Chashme Baddoor and the Return to Form
Chashme Baddoor was panned by critics and was not a box-office success either. The filmmaker made a winning comeback at the box office with his next two comedies – Main Tera Hero and Judwaa. Both starred Varun Dhawan.
Dhawan’s journey highlights the creative challenges directors face with established stars. His pivot to newcomers, though initially rocky, ultimately paved the way for a successful comeback, proving his adaptability and enduring vision in Bollywood.
