Varun Dhawan will be seen in a never seen before avatar in Shoojit Sircar’s October.
Varun Dhawan is no run off the mill Romeo in Shoojit Sircar’s love story October. He is not someone for whom love will happen at first sight and as you watch the trailer of October, his character is the one which will stay with you. Debutante Banita Sandhu too captivates you as she emotes with her eyes. Director-writer duo Shoojit and Juhi Chaturvedi seem to have hit the right chords yet again after sprinkling magic on the silver with movies like Vicky Donor and Piku.
However, the intriguing trailer of October has left questions about the theme of the film and the relationship between its lead actors unanswered. It will only be on April 13 that the audience will decipher what actually is the story of Dan (Varun) and Shiuli (Banita). Before that, here’s everything that is known about the movie until now.
Plot
October is an unusual tale of love starring Varun Dhawan (Dan) and Banita Sandhu (Shiuli) as hotel management trainees. Both the young stars are training in the same five-star hotel. While Varun is career oriented and all that he could think about is work, Banita seems to be taking special notice of him during their training programme. But the twist in the tale comes when tragedy strikes and Shuli gets bed-ridden. The mystery intensifies as she utters Dan’s name the moment she opens eyes after the accident. What unfolds next in the narrative is Dan’s journey to discover why was he the first person to be called upon by Shiuli.
Release date
Directed by Shoojit Sircar and bankrolled by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, October releases on April 13, 2018.
Scripting of October took two years
October writer Juhi Chaturvedi, who was present at the trailer launch of the movie on Monday, said, “I took around two-and-a-half years for writing the story of the film October. And I think this much time is needed for writing. I am thankful that Shoojit and Ronnie (producer Ronnie Lahiri) waited for me to write the story.” Shoojit Sircar and Juhi Chaturvedi have earlier collaborated for Vicky Donor, Piku and Madras Cafe. The duo together has given the cinephiles great cinematic experiences by borrowing from real-life experiences and then bringing them alive on the silver screen. The heart-wrenching story about ageing parents in Piku garnered much appreciation for Juhi. The out of the box story of a sperm donor in Vicky Donor also found many takers at the box office. With October too, the movie buffs have similar expectations from this hit writer-director duo.
The casting of debutante Banita Sandhu
A still from October starring Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu.
Shoojit and Banita earlier worked together in a commercial. When Shoojit met her for the shoot of the TVC, he was instantly convinced that Banita was the perfect choice for the film. Talking about casting Banita in the lead, the filmmaker said, “Everyone was in awe of Banita from the chewing gum commercial which I had directed. While I was shooting the ad film, Juhi Chaturvedi and I were also working on the script of October. One day, I clicked a picture of Banita and sent it to Juhi saying, ‘She has the potential to fit into the character that we are looking at’. Juhi, Ronnie and I zeroed in on her and were sure that, she is the girl we should go for. My casting director also felt that she was the right person for this character.”
The casting of Varun Dhawan
Varun Dhawan plays the role of a hotel management trainee in October.
Varun Dhawan has been a hit churning machine ever since he made his debut with Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year. He is the one who has been experimenting with varied genres and continues to bring nuance to the characters he essays on the silver screen. Still, he was not the first choice for the role of Dan in October. Shoojit, at the trailer launch, said that before meeting the young star his sensibilities hardly resonated with that of the actor. In fact, he was auditioning new faces for Varun’s role until his eyes caught Shoojit’s imagination when for the first time the actor came to meet him in his office.
The first poster of Shoojit Sircar’s October starring Varun Dhawan.
Varun also revealed that he was the last actor to be cast in the movie. “I was cast last in the film. First Banita was cast and then me. I think this is the right way to cast a film where the motivation is not to cast someone who is doing well (commercially).” he said. Adding to it, the actor mentioned, “Shoojit cast me before Judwaa 2 and Badrinath (Ki Dulhania) released. We were in talks since then. When he narrated the film to me and told me why he wants to make the film, I was so moved. To be honest, I need this film in my career today more than anyone else.”