Birthday Throwback: When David Dhawan tackled serious subjects, edited an arthouse film

The name David Dhawan instantly brings back memories of some rib-tickling comedies of the 1990s as his name is synonymous with this genre of films, mostly the ones starring Govinda. Some of these include, Aankhen, Raja Babu, Hero No. 1, Coolie No. 1, Saajan Chale Sasural, Deewana Mastana, Haseena Maan Jayegi, etc. 

But not many would be aware that during the initial phase of his career he tackled non-comical or, in a way, serious films. In fact, his first eight films weren’t comedies – Jurrat, Gola Barood, Taaqatwar, Swarg, Aandhiyan, Aag Ka Gola, Shola Aur Shabman and Bol Radha Bol. 

It was with Aankhen that he tried comedy for the first time and since then there has been no looking back. Dhawan has been loyal to the genre till date. His upcoming film is the sequel to his Salman Khan starrer Judwaa, where his son, Varun Dhawan will be playing the lead character. 

But if you dig deeper into his career, you will realise there are more unknown aspects about the veteran filmmaker which many won’t be aware of. For example, Dhawan had a big role to play in Mahesh Bhatt’s parallel venture, Saaraansh. Surprised? 

The king of comedy was the editor of this film, which marked the debut of Anupam Kher in 1984. Today, it might sound impossible to associate him with an utterly serious and somewhat tragic film like this one. 

But this is not all. Dhawan actually started off as an editor in the late '70s. Some of his noteworthy films as an editor are, Saajan Bina Suhagan, Saajan Ki Saheli, Saath Saath, Lovers, Souten and Farishta. 

Coming back to Saaransh, there is another interesting trivia associated with the film. It was produced by Rajshri Productions and Sooraj Barjatya was its second assistant director. Interestingly, after becoming filmmakers, the genre of their films turned out to be poles apart. 

And looks like it will remain that way.