Karan Johar defends Varun Dhawan amid online trolling, “you can troll an artist for his smile but then…”

Like every actor, Varun Dhawan has had his share of ups and downs in the film industry. He has essayed some stellar roles in critically acclaimed movies like Shoojit Sircar’s October, but at the same time played a very massey role in his father David Dhawan’s directorial venture Main Tera Hero. However, what is the best part, as most of his fans claim, about him is the fact that he is forever willing to try out new things and reinvent himself. There was a lot of anticipation to see Varun essay the role of Major Hoshiyar Singh in Border 2. However, when the song ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ was released, the actor got massively trolled for his smile. Now, director-producer Karan Johar has publicly come out in his support.

Karan took to his Instagram stories and wrote about the increasing online toxicity and the looming culture of online negativity. He stated that there is a major difference between the real and the virtual world. Johar, without naming Dhawan, specified that while people might be trolling him online for his smile, it is the same actor who laughs when the film is released to a hall full of packed audience and receives love from the audience.

Johar wrote, “Has to be said… the reason why it’s called a virtual world! Real will always score and prove the noise on social media as defunct! You can troll an artist for his smile, but then he laughs when the film releases to packed houses and he receives pure, authentic audience love. So noisemakers and clickbait-seeking content creators can do what they like—truth will always prevail.”

Right before he posted the note in support of Dhawan, he had put up another story appreciating the film that is Border 2. Tagging all the actors, the director and producers of the film, he wrote, “Border 2 moved me to tears in many scenes! Patriotism with a beating heart!! Sure shot WINNER!

Drawing from the historic 1971 India-Pakistan War, Border 2 tells a powerful story of courage and coordination, showcasing how India’s Army, Navy, and Air Force stand united in battle. The film stars Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty in pivotal roles.