Varun
Dhawan's
morally
ambiguous
turn
in
Badlapur
startled
many
but
director
Sriram
Raghavan
says
he
chose
the
actor
for
his
enthusiasm
and
hunger
as
a
performer.
"It
was
a
risk
for
Varun
but
not
for
me.
For
me,
he
was
just
an
enthusiastic
and
hungry
actor.
It
was
a
bold
script
and
I
am
sure
a
lot
of
people
would
have
advised
him
against
it.
He
has
played
a
morally
ambiguous
character.
Normally,
mainstream
actors
shy
away
from
complex
roles
but
I
am
happy
he
took
up
the
challenge," Raghavan
told.
Varun
and
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui
were
pitted
against
each
other
in
the
twisted
revenge
saga
that
found
acceptance
from
the
audience
despite
an
unusual
ending.
"In
a
revenge
story,
you
root
for
the
hero
to
take
revenge
and
that's
what
you
wait
for.
Badlapur
questions
that.
The
design
was
such
that
the
good
guy
starts
to
become
a
monster
while
the
bad
guy
starts
to
get
your
empathy,"
he
says.
Siddiqui
has
been
hailed
for
giving
the
movie
some
of
its
finest
moments
as
Laik
and
Raghavan
reveals
that
the
actor
was
always
the
first
choice
for
the
part.
"He
is
fantastic
in
the
movie.
When
I
was
writing
the
film,
I
was
thinking
about
this
character
and
Nawaz
came
to
my
mind.
I
called
the
character
Nawaz
while
writing
it.
Having
him
in
the
mind
helped
me
track
the
character.
But
he
took
it
to
another
level
with
his
performance."
Raghavan,
known
for
telling
gritty
and
dark
stories
like
Ek
Hasina
Thi
and
Johnny
Gaddaar,
says
he
wanted
to
do
something
bold
after
the
failure
of
his
last
outing,
Saif
Ali
Khan-starrer
Agent
Vinod.
"I
was
disheartened
when
Agent
Vinod
did
not
do
well.
I
was
reading
a
lot
of
things
on
the
Internet
and
came
across
this
story.
I
wanted
to
do
something
that
was
real
and
had
heart.
I
did
not
want
to
spend
money
or
time
on
a
wrong
thing.
It
is
a
contained
story,
edgy
and
risky
but
not
without
appeal."