- Kalank starred Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, and others in a magnum opus
- The film was made with a Rs 150 crore budget but grossed Rs 146.80 crore worldwide
- Kalank was Varun Dhawan's first flop, which deeply affected him emotionally and professionally
Abhishek Varman's 2019 film Kalank was mounted as a magnum opus, and with a star cast that included Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha, expectations were high. But the film received a disastrous response and became Varun Dhawan's first flop, which affected him deeply. Recently his father, filmmaker David Dhawan, joked about how he asked Sanjay Dutt why he had done the film.
What's Happening
- In a light-hearted chat between David Dhawan and Varun Dhawan during the ongoing David Dhawan Film Festival, the veteran filmmaker joked, "I asked Sanjay Dutt, 'Tu kyun kiya yeh picture? Madhuri Dixit thi iss liye?'. Sanju was very upset during that film."
- His answer left everyone in stitches, while Varun Dhawan added, "A lot of hard work was put into that film. It is the hardest we have worked on a film. Hence we did not understand why it didn't work."
Varun Dhawan On Kalank's Failure
Calling Kalank the first flop of his career, the actor said, "When I had my first flop, which happened after a couple of hits, it shook me very badly. I wondered, yeh kaise ho gaya, kyun ho gaya? This is because I had a run of hits. My father always told me that it is the law of averages."
David Dhawan, who was also present at the event, said Kalank's underwhelming box-office performance left him feeling "depressed" as well. "There's one film of his that didn't work, and it depressed me. It was a very big film. Karan Johar must have sold his last shirt to make that movie! That film was Kalank," he said. The romantic drama was reportedly made on an estimated production and marketing budget of Rs 150 crore. It grossed a total worldwide box-office collection of Rs 146.80 crore, according to Sacnilk.
About Sanjay Dutt-Madhuri Dixit
In an opinion piece by Yasser Usman, the author wrote about Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit's doomed romance.
He noted that, apart from Thanedaar, Sanjay had earlier worked with Madhuri in Khatron Ke Khiladi and Kanoon Apna Apna. Both had signed more films together, such as Sahibaan and Mahaanta, and spent a fair amount of time together. Soon rumours of a romance between them began circulating in Mumbai. When Saajan became a blockbuster, their chemistry was widely credited for its success.
He added that this was when Sanjay's love life is said to have taken a very interesting, scandalous turn. Madhuri Dixit was signed as his leading lady in Khalnayak. While the stories about his association with Madhuri may not have been good for his already floundering marriage, their onscreen partnership gave Sanjay the best phase of his career.
More than Saajan's success or Sanjay's rising stardom, it was the Sanjay-Madhuri story that dominated film magazine pages. Despite their denials, tabloids brimmed with innuendo and speculation. The media even hinted that Sanjay planned to divorce Richa, wrote Usman.
About Kalank
Directed by Abhishek Varman, Kalank was set against the backdrop of pre-independence India. It featured an ensemble cast including Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit and Kunal Khemu. Alia played a young woman who enters a loveless marriage with a wealthy newspaper editor, portrayed by Aditya. She soon falls into a passionate but doomed affair with Varun's character, which triggers communal violence during the 1947 Partition. The film was produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Productions.
ALSO READ | David Dhawan Admits He Was 'Depressed' After Son Varun Dhawan's First Flop Kalank