Varun Dhawan was not on my casting list at all: Shoojit Sircar

Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, who teamed up with actor Varun Dhawan for the first time in his forthcoming film "October", on Sunday revealed that he was not on his casting list at all.

Present at a promotional event for his forthcoming romantic drama film, he said that he was looking for a fresh cast. "We needed someone young and fresh, like 20 years old, so Varun Dhawan was not on my casting list at all. Also I had not seen his films.

"But one day he was in office and I saw him, I was aware of his image, his commercial world image, but somewhere I felt he is not like that, he is different," said Shoojit.

Shoojit found the actor perfect for his character 'Dan', because: "he has something different in his eyes... honesty and innocence. There is something very nice and vulnerable about him. He just doesn't only dance and jump, there is some sensibility in him too. He is perfect as Dan, the character".

The "Vicky Donor" director also said it was very brave of Varun to act in an unconventional and unusual movie.

"Good thing about Varun Dhawan, despite his success with films, for him to do this kind of film, an unusual and unconventional story, that is really brave," he said.

Banita Sandhu, the debutante from Wales, is roped opposite Varun in the film and Shoojit also shared his reasons to cast a newbie.

"I wanted to cast absolutely fresh for this film. So when I met Banita, I saw someone who was very intelligent, her eyes were really expressive, and she didn't have to do too much to express, she did very little and it expressed a lot and that I would call acting. I felt in my gut and instinct that she was right.

"There is maturity in her in terms of thinking, and I thought she is right for the role and when you will see the film, you will know. Just like in 'Piku', you can't think of anyone other than Deepika Padukone as Piku, it is the same with her."

The film is written by Juhi Chaturvedi and produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar under Rising Sun Films banner and scheduled to release on April 13.