Varun Dhawan

Dhawan was born on 24 April 1987 to David Dhawan, a film director, and Karuna Dhawan. His elder brother, Rohit, is a film director, while his uncle, Anil, is an actor. He completed his HSC education from the H.R. College of Commerce and Economics. Dhawan has a degree in Business Management from the Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom. Prior to his acting career, Dhawan worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the film My Name Is Khan (2010).

In 2012, Dhawan made his acting debut with Johar's romantic comedy Student of the Year alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt. He was confident as Rohan Nanda, the teenage son of a rich businessman, who competes with his girlfriend (played by Bhatt) and best friend (played by Malhotra) to win an annual school championship. Film critic Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama found Dhawan to be "a talent one can't help but marvel at" and CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand added: "It’s Varun Dhawan who stands out with a confident, charming turn, able to tackle both comical and vulnerable scenes with ease". Student of the Year was a success, grossing ₹970 million (US$14 million) worldwide, and Dhawan's performance earned him a Best Male Debut nomination at Filmfare.

Alongside his acting career, Dhawan performs on stage and has co-hosted two award ceremonies. In 2013, he performed at the Filmfare, Screen, and Stardust award ceremonies, and at an event in Hong Kong. He hosted the 2013 Stardust Awards ceremony with Sidharth Malhotra and Ayushmann Khurrana, and a segment of the 59th Filmfare Awards. He was also part of the 20th Screen Awards, co-hosting the show alongside Shahrukh Khan and Richa Chadda. In 2013, Dhawan performed at a special event alongside Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor, and Huma Qureshi to raise funds for the flood-affected victims of Uttarakhand. He also donated in PM-CARES Fund of Government of India during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

In 2014, Dhawan appeared in two films, the first of which was the romantic comedy Main Tera Hero (2014), a remake of the Telugu film Kandireega, which was produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and directed by his father. He played Sreenath "Seenu" Prasad, an impetuous brat who is involved in a love triangle between Ileana D'Cruz and Nargis Fakhri. Raedita Tandon of Filmfare commended Dhawan on his comic timing and compared him favorably to Govinda and Prabhudheva.

Dhawan reunited with Khaitan and Bhatt for the romantic comedy Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017), in which he played the chauvinist fiancé of Bhatt's character. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote that Dhawan "impresses as a boy-struggling-to-be-a-man". In addition, Tushar Joshi of Daily News and Analysis noted that "Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt prove that on screen chemistry can be enough sometimes to keep you engaged in an average plot with a predictable narrative". Dhawan received his second Best Actor nomination at Filmfare for the film. Later in 2017, he starred in his father's comedy film Judwaa 2, a reboot of the 1997 comedy film Judwaa, alongside Jacqueline Fernandez and Taapsee Pannu. Both Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2 proved to be commercial successes, earning over ₹2 billion (US$28 million) each. Forbes published that with nine consecutive box office hits and a 100% success ratio, Dhawan had established himself as a "bona fide Bollywood superstar".

In 2018, Dhawan had two releases—Shoojit Sircar's drama October and Sharat Katariya's social problem film Sui Dhaaga. In the former, he played Dan, an aimless hotel management trainee whose life undergoes a series of changes when his co-worker goes into a coma. In a highly positive review, Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost commended Dhawan for "effac[ing] his starry swagger and trademark cutesiness to play Dan"; Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times considered it to be his finest performance to date and wrote that "his humour is innate, but his understanding of pain and how it affects the human behaviour is even better". In Sui Dhaaga, Dhawan and Anushka Sharma starred as Mauji and Mamta, a newly-wed couple in rural India who begin their own small-scale clothing business. Udita Jhunjunwala of Mint reviewed, "Dhawan has perfected the template for playing a simpleton. He brings a similar naiveté to Mauji, albeit endearingly." For October, he received a nomination for the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Dhawan has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014, peaking at the 15th position in 2018, when the magazine estimated his annual income to be ₹495.8 million (US$7.0 million) and listed him as one of the highest-paid celebrities in the country. In the same year, the Indian edition of GQ featured him among the nation's 50 most influential young people and labelled him as the "most bankable star of his generation".

Dhawan's only screen appearance in 2019 was in Abhishek Varman's ensemble period drama Kalank, in which he was once again paired opposite Bhatt. Set in the 1940s prior to the partition of India, the film featured him as a blacksmith; for the physical demands of the part, he trained extensively despite suffering from a knee injury and hamstring tear, and insisted on performing his own stunts. Labelling it as the "meatiest role of his career", Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote, "Dhawan exudes zest as he ventures well beyond his comfort zone and consistently strikes the right notes". He began the new decade by reuniting with Kapoor in the dance film Street Dancer 3D (2020), which Namrata Joshi of The Hindu termed a "compilation of indistinguishable performances". Neither film performed well commercially.

Varun Dhawan celebrates 33rd birthday with homemade chocolate cake. Check inside photos

Varun Dhawan is celebrating his 33rd birthday at home as he has been staying indoors for a long time since the nationwide lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus. He celebrated his birthday at midnight by cutting a homecooked chocolate cake.

Varun Dhawan turns 29: Celebs galore at his birthday bash

Varun Dhawan turns 29: Celebs galore at his birthday bash

Varun Dhawan's 27th birthday begins with visit to polling booth - NDTV Movies

Actor Varun Dhawan turned 27 on Thursday and the Main Tera Hero star fulfilled his civic duty by voting before getting busy with his birthday celebrations.