Inspired by Breaking Bad, Varun Dhawan goes bearded, ballistic in Badlapur teaser

It looks like February is going to be a rather violent month for Bollywood fans. Dibakar Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, which is steeped in the tradition of noir films, is scheduled to release in February 2015 and the same month will also see Badlapur by Sriram Raghavan in the theatres. Both films see a hero better known for canoodling show off a more menacing side. Sushant Singh Rajput will be seen wearing a dhoti, sporting a moustache and solving mysteries in a Calcutta threatened by war. It’s quite a departure from the romantic hero image that Rajput has cultivated in his fledgling film career, but next to the challenge before Varun Dhawan in Badlapur, Rajput’s new avatar seems almost foppish. In Badlapur, Dhawan plays a man intent upon avenging a wrong that was done to him. Not only does Dhawan have to play a young man as well as a 40-year-old in the film, he has to go head to head with Nawazuddin Siddiqui who appears to be the seriously bad guy in the film. Dhawan is seen butchering an unseen body in a room that’s covered in plastic sheets (a bit like the place where serial killer Dexter deals with his victims). [caption id=“attachment_1830883” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Varun Dhawan in Badlapur. Screengrab from teaser.[/caption] The actor has said that he was inspired by television shows like Breaking Bad and Fargo to play a role that wasn’t squeaky clean, but he seems to have modelled his appearance upon by Gerard Butler’s bearded Spartan look from 300, which seems fitting since Dhawan is seen indulging in a fair amount of screaming and mindless violence in the Badlapur teaser. Also in the cast of Badlapur are Yami Gautam, Huma Qureshi and Divya Dutta. Dutta is the one who is seen locking lips with the bearded Dhawan and given this shot is accompanied by the word “wicked”, we can deduce Dutta isn’t playing Dhawan’s wife in the film. Qureshi plays a sex worker who, according to the actress, works “like a bridge” between Dhawan and Siddiqui’s characters. Which leaves Gautam to play the hapless wife/ girlfriend who will get butchered in order to turn Dhawan’s Raghu from good guy to murderous hero. From student of the year to psycho of the year – can Varun Dhawan make that transition? More importantly, are Bollywood fans ready to see the young Dhawan in a ’negative’ role? We’ll find out in February. Watch the teaser here: