One phone call forced Varun Dhawan to leave his home with family, actor recalls scary incident. ‘He would come with guns’

The 1990s are often talked about as a very tense phase for Hindi cinema. It wasn’t just about films and box office then, there was fear too in the background. Many actors, producers and directors were dealing with extortion calls and threats. Some incidents turned tragic, like the killings of Gulshan Kumar and Mukesh Duggal, which left the industry shaken. People who were working in films at that time have spoken about how uncertain things felt.

Varun Dhawan shares what happened at home

Talking about that period, Varun Dhawan recently opened up about something that happened with his own family involving his father, filmmaker David Dhawan. He spoke during a conversation with Yuvaa.

He said, “People were getting underworld calls at that time, and we were getting them too. We had been receiving them for quite some time, but we didn’t realise it because the staff was arguing with whoever was calling. The staff even gave out our full address and told the person where to meet, saying, ‘Come meet me in that garden, I’ll beat you there,’”


What sounds strange at first slowly became serious. The family did not even realise what was happening because the calls were being handled by staff, and in a very casual way.

When things suddenly escalated

Varun then explained how the situation took a turn and became alarming. He said, “When things escalated, an actor called my dad and said that this had gone out of hand, and that the person was now saying he would come with guns and that he knew our address and office timings. When my dad asked who had said this, he took the staff member’s name. So we had to stay somewhere else that day. It is funny, but it is not funny actually,”

That one call changed everything. What was earlier brushed off became a real safety concern, and the family had to leave their home for the night.

Others from the industry remember similar fear

It wasn’t just one family dealing with this. Filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan has also spoken about the same period while talking to Ranveer Allahbadia. She recalled being on set when news came about Mukesh Duggal’s killing and how it affected everyone.

She also mentioned threats around the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, directed by Karan Johar. “I don’t know about Shah Rukh getting calls, but I do know that during the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai premiere, Karan Johar had received threats from the underworld. It was very scary. Everyone was discussing whether the premiere should be cancelled or not. Security was increased, but we eventually went ahead with it. Karan was extremely stressed, imagine it’s your first film and instead of celebrating it, you’re worrying about something like this,” she said.

Karan Johar later wrote about a similar moment in his book An Unsuitable Boy. He described a direct threat his family received.

“The phone rang. My mother picked it up, and it was a call from the underworld. A man’s voice said, ‘Your son’s wearing a red T-shirt, I can see him right now. And we’re going to shoot him if you release this film on Friday.’ For some reason, they didn’t want the film to be released that Friday; we didn’t know why. It was a call from Abu Salem, and my mother was shaking with terror. She put the phone down and ran towards the door.”

In that tense moment, Shah Rukh Khan stepped in to calm things down. “Shah Rukh said, ‘What nonsense!’ He went inside and dragged me out. He said, ‘I’m standing here in front of you. Let’s see who shoots you. I’m standing right here.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, my mother was…’ He told my mother, ‘Nothing’s gonna happen. I’m a Pathan. Nothing can happen to me and nothing will happen to your son. He’s like my brother. Nothing’s gonna happen.’”