Kalank teaser launch: When Alia Bhatt gave Varun Dhawan the cold shoulder

Actors Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan who were once romantically linked, have continued to work together. Bhatt and Dhawan will soon be seen in Dharma Productions' multi-starrer period film, Kalank (2019) that is set to be released on 17 April.

The reunion wasn't a happy one in the beginning as Dhawan felt a change in Bhatt’s attitude. The actor disclosed this during the teaser launch of Kalank in Mumbai on Tuesday (12 March).

It so happened that for one of the early shoots, Dhawan turned up 20 minutes late and that upset Bhatt who then didn’t speak to him. “We had our tiff in the beginning. I came 20 minutes late and that upset her. Though I apologised, she wouldn't speak to me. I thought she has given two-three hits and now she is having this attitude. I asked her 'what attitude are you throwing'? She said 'no I’m just into my character' [sic],” Dhawan said.

Bhatt and Dhawan indulged in some banter on the stage when the latter claimed that it was an accident that broke the ice.

Speaking about the incident, Dhawan said, “She had to take a carriage ride and I knew she would fall. And who else would catch her but me. I held her but (director) Abhishek Varman didn’t like the scene. But Alia laughed and then we were back to talking to each other."

Speaking of Varman, the cast of Kalank was all praise for him, calling him a very fine director, but above all a fine human being. Bhatt said that she wants this film to succeed purely for Varman.

Hailing Varman, Dhawan recalled how the director always had his back. “He was my roommate in My Name Is Khan (2010),” said Dhawan. The duo had assisted director-producer Karan Johar in that film. "I remember him telling me why I went out to the sets without ironing my clothes. I didn’t didn’t do it myself, but he used to iron it for me. He used to tell me I need to be tidy. So he had my back, and he has my back now.”

“I love working with him, he is very close to my heart. I have to say he is fantastic in the film," Bhatt said of Dhawan. Dhawan and Bhatt then obliged the shutterbugs with the actor carrying Bhatt in his arms.  

The duo had made their debut with Karan Johar’s Student of the Year (2012). Bhatt and Dhawan have since worked in three Dharma Productions films — Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014), Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017) and now Kalank.