Varun Dhawan recently got emotional as he reflected on the sudden death of his driver, Manoj, who had been with him for 26 years. Varun revealed that Manoj’s passing changed his outlook on life and pulled him out of the ‘bubble’ he had been living in.
In a conversation with Ranveer Allahbadia on his YouTube channel, Varun shared, “For the longest time, I was living in a bubble.” He admitted that he believed he understood life, but Manoj’s death altered his perspective completely. “There is a Varun Dhawan before and after 35,” he stated. Fighting back tears, Varun recalled, “I used to see myself in an idealistic way—that I’m a hero, and I can save the day because I literally play a hero onscreen. But on that day, I failed myself.”
Varun opened up about how close he was to Manoj, saying, “I was very close to Manoj, who was my driver for many years. He passed suddenly while we were working. I did CPR. We took him to Lilavati Hospital and we got him there on time. It was like we saved someone’s life. But he passed away in my arms. It was hard to see how casual was his passing. It just happened like that.”
The actor shared how deeply Manoj’s death impacted him, both personally and professionally. “If you see my work also became less. I am having a release after two years. Baby John is releasing in theatres after two years. It definitely hit me hard,” he said.
To cope with his grief, Varun turned to religious texts like the Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita. He explained, “I realized you have to move forward as a human being. These incidents shake you, but you can’t stay stagnant. I began reading the Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata, and Ramayana—just randomly—because I had so many questions.”
Earlier, Varun had revealed that Manoj’s death occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. Manoj had successfully recovered from Covid, but a week later, he suffered a fatal heart attack. “It affected me mentally so badly,” Varun shared in an interview with India Today.
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