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Is Varun Dhawan the next Govinda?

Varun Dhawan looks all set to claim the title of Bollywood's king of comedy. What are the chances of that happening? Take a look.

It’s been a while since we saw a star who's known especially for his brilliant comedy.

We have Shah Rukh Khan for romance, Salman for action and Aamir Khan for serious acting.

But comedy remains an unconquered genre in Bollywood ever since Govinda hung up his leading man boots. 

While there have been likely successors -- Riteish Deshmukh once came close but quickly faded into multistarrer comedy film and developed his own style -- the space has been vacant for the most part.

It may be too early to say so, but looks like that spot is about to fill up soon.

Varun Dhawan, who made his acting debut in Student of the Year, appears just brilliant in the Main Tera Hero trailers.

Of course, a lot of the credit may go to his father and the film’s director -- David Dhawan -- who collaborated with Govinda on some of the most successful comedies through the 1990s.

But can Varun Dhawan really be the next Govinda?

Let’s look at this young lad's chances.

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The comic who can dance too

Govinda was once known for his superb dancing skills.

Varun, who showed off his skills on the dance floor plenty of times in Student of the Year and stood out each time, does a superlative job in his second film too.

Don't believe us? Just watch the trailer of Main Tera Hero.

 

The great mimic with an endearing smile

Remember Govinda's endearing, toothy smile in many of his hits?

Varun's smile is strongly reminiscent of Govinda's disarming and guileless grins in his early days as leading man.  

Watch the scene in the Main Tera Hero promo where he blushes when he’s caught by the parents at his girlfriend's home.

He mirrors the endearing innocence that we came to associate with Govinda's oddball yet extremely lovable onscreen characters.

Also, just like Govinda, Varun has impressive mimicry skills too.

There’s a scene in which he imitates Ranbir Kapoor's titular character in Barfi!, and he does it very well.

Govinda used to do that quite often as well, often drawing inspiration from quirks, unusual voices and mannerisms of people he'd known in real life.

The fighter

Many people feel Govinda was too bulky to perform in fight scenes convincingly but he developed his own style for such sequences.

While the techniques have changed over the years, Varun’s style in the trailer makes him look like an action hero on the screen.

A sunny disposition

So you think only Rajinikant has a pathbreakingly cool way of mounting his sunglasses on his head?

 If you think so, you probably haven't seen Govinda do it.

Of course, Varun has better fashion sense, and wears a better mix of colours unlike Govinda, who loved to wear colours like purple, red and mustard in his hey days.

One for the masses

Dev Anand would never have become the star he was had it not been for his director brother Vijay Anand.

Same could be said for Govinda and director David Dhawan, who gave the former films like Shola Aur Shabnam, and the many hit films with 'No 1' titles.

Those films put Govinda in a different league, and made him a mass hero.

Can Varun be the next hero for the masses as well?

Yes, it's a possibility.

The spot that Govinda left vacant might just fill up.