Audience appreciation is far more important than film fraternity appreciation for a film says Varun Dhawan

Actor Varun Dhawan, who is gearing up for the release of 'Kalank', feels that audience appreciation for a film is far more important than film fraternity appreciation to a film because people from fraternity watches a film for free in special screening but audience spends their hard earned money to watch a film.

Varun Dhawan was interacting with the media to promote 'Kalank' along with his co-actors Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur and Madhuri Dixit-Nene on Friday in Mumbai.

When asked Varun what kind of reaction team of 'Kalank' has been getting from film fraternity, he said, "I feel it's a fraternity so everybody is so closed therefore, they appreciate your film. But eventually, what matters is the appreciation from general audience apart from that, everything doesn't matter. I feel people from film fraternity watches a film for free at a special screening hosted for them but audience are those who spend their hard earned to watch the film so, we are getting really good response from audience for trailer of our film and songs wherever we are going to promote the film. My character is Zafar is getting a lot of love among the audience. Apart from that, my father (David Dhawan) and my brother (Rohit Dhawan) has loved character of Adi (Aditya Roy Kapur) so that's the fraternity I know."

Hollywood film 'Avengers: Endgame' is releasing in India on 26th April and 'Kalank' is releasing on 17th April, when asked Varun whether he is feeling pressurised that 'Avengers: Endgame' can hamper business 'Kalank' after its release, he said, "I feel people are very kind as they are going in theatres to watch films. Our film is releasing nine days before the release of 'Avengers' and even internationally, our film is getting big release so, I think nine days a lot for ''Kalank' to be seen and liked by people. Nowadays, if people appreciate certain film then, it does good at the box-office despite of competition from other films so, if people appreciate 'Kalank' then it will do well as there is enough screen space for two films."

'Kalank' is a period drama set in 1945 in the pre-independence British era and it resolves around the concept of eternal love.

When asked Varun what is his definition of true love, he said, "I feel an artist like Madhuri Dixit who has been working in this industry from so many years and she has an immense amount of affection towards arts. But despite spending so many years the industry, her enthusiasm towards her work hasn't decreased and I feel that's the internal love for art."

Varun added that 'Kalnk' not only revolves around eternal love and there are so many facets of the film which audience will be able to see it after its release, he said, "I want to tell people that our film deals with many aspects apart from internal love. This film is based on 1940s era so, during that time, there was different atmosphere in our country. I feel character Balraj Chaudhary which is being played by Sanjay Dutt in the film is very fascinating. Kunal Kemmu also has very interesting role in the film. We have shown only one facet of Aditya Roy Kapur's character in the film. What kind of relationship his character shares with character of Alia Bhatt and Sonakshi Sinha hasn't come out yet."

There were reports that Karan Johar's upcoming production "Kalank" is inspired by author Shuana Singh Baldwin's "What the Body Remembers", but actor Varun Dhawan believes the film's premise is not similar to the book.

After the film's trailer was unveiled, fans pointed out similarities between the film's plot and the book, which chronicles the story of love and loss with partition as a backdrop.

Both the film and the book feature story about two women getting married to the same man. The names of the characters played by Alia Bhatt (Roop) and Sonakshi Sinha (Satya) in the film are also similar to the book.

When asked about the plot similarities, Varun told reporters, "I have not read that book, I have no knowledge about that. But I don't think the premise is the same because our actual premise has not yet opened in the promos. Yes, there is a love story but the film is a lot more than that."

The actor said there are several layers to the story which will be revealed only when the film releases.

"Once people watch it they can make up their mind about that. But as far as I know, Karan had this story for a very long time which he wanted me to do."

Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Madhri Dixit-Nene, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha starrer 'Kalank' is directed by Abhishek Verman and produced by Dharma Productions.