Varun Dhawan gives fans first look into October on V-Day

Varun Dhawan shared the first look of his upcoming film October on digital platforms on Valentine's Day. He says the film has helped him grow creatively.

The actor launched a 33-second teaser of the film on Wednesday. This is the first time Varun has collaborated with Shoojit Sircar and he plays a very different character that he hopes is 'image-changing'.

Varun feels that shooting this film is a life-changing experience for him as an actor and as an individual. "At times, success makes us complacent and that was happening with me. Whether it was Badrinath Ki Dulhania or Judwaa 2, whatever I have done has been commercially successful. So, as an actor, I was earning money, popularity and success, but not growing creatively. Thankfully, Shoojitda came to my life at a right time because among all these commercial films, this is one film that has challenged me the most."

He goes on to say, "As a director, what he expected me to do was difficult for me and that is when I started understanding the deeper side of acting."

Shoojit says, "I think it is really brave of Varun to take up the challenge as an actor because once you are successful in a certain genre, you tend to continue on that. But for filmmakers like me, I need participation from actors like him to experiment because I always want to make an experimental film, in terms of subject and execution. I need brave actors."

Asked about what made him choose Varun, Shoojit says, "I have always changed images of actors whether it is Deepika (Deepika Padukone), Mr Bachchan (Amitabh Bachchan), John Abraham... So when it comes to Varun, we instantly connected and after our meeting, I had no doubt that I found the right actor for the film."

The film celebrates love, nature and the season of autumn throughout the narration. According to Varun, shooting for this film brought him close to nature, and that impacted his performance in a positive way.

"The shooting experience was very different. The film has been shot in all the real locations that were written in the script. Therefore, we majorly shot outdoors. I rode a bike at midnight, in the wee hours in places like Dwarka in Delhi, just to get the shots right. In Manali, we were shooting under the open sky... I felt nature and its beauty so closely. Yes, this film has impacted me and how," says Varun.

So, is it a love story or about a longing for love? "Well, we cannot reveal much more than what people can see in the teaser, but yes I can say that it is a love story where I am sharing my idea of love. The way I explored the bond between father and daughter in Piku, in this one, I am sharing my thoughts on love," Shoojit says. 

Produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, October also features Banita Sandhu. It will be released on April 13.