
Badlapur was the second film he signed, right after Student of the Year. He recalls that he was terrified by the story Sriram told him, yet instantly agreed to do it. The only question he asked the director was, "Why me?" Sriram retorted, "Because you have innocent eyes, something my character needs." What gave him the confidence to go ahead with the gamble, given everyone's vocal apprehensions, were words of wisdom from Aamir Khan. "The best decisions, as far as films are concerned, are taken with the heart," Aamir had once told him.
The words remained with Varun and gave him the impetus to take a drastic pay cut for the project. Badlapur is based on a real-life incident that took place nearly 25 years ago, and had a devastating effect on a family. "I can't go into the specifics, but my character in the revenge drama is a guy working in an ad agency who starts a family. You will see me as a father on the screen for the first time," he reveals with adding that he will age from an 18-year old boy to a 40-year-old man in the film. The film took him away from the mustard fields and coffee shops to a morgue, a prison which housed serial-killers, and an ICU which wasn't a film set.
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