Comedian Tanmay Bhat recently left Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan in splits after taking a humorous swipe at his latest box office performance. The light-hearted exchange took place during a YouTube video that also featured popular comedians Rohan Joshi, Piyush Sharma, and Zakir Khan, and it quickly went viral across social media platforms.
Varun appeared on Tanmay’s YouTube channel to promote his romantic comedy, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai. During their conversation, Tanmay couldn’t resist jokingly comparing the film’s financial prospects to the unprecedented box office dominance of Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar franchise. “The amount of hard work you are putting into promoting the film is commendable,” Tanmay joked. “Because it takes some kind of optimism to work this hard to get 1 percent of Dhurandhar box office numbers.”
Rather than taking offense, Varun handles the roast like a true sport, laughing out loud and joining in on the self-deprecating humor. “I think post Dhurandhar we are living with this weight ki bhai hum bhi kuch na kuch karle (Brother, we also have to do something),” the actor admitted.
The brutal but funny comparison comes at a time when Dhurandhar stands unchallenged as one of the biggest success stories in modern Indian cinema history.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, the first high-octane installment shattered records in December 2025 by raking in over ₹1,307 crore worldwide. Its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, pushed boundaries even further upon its release earlier this year, grossing over ₹1,812 crore globally. Combined, the blockbuster franchise has comfortably crossed the massive ₹3,000 crore mark worldwide with its star-studded lineup featuring Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, and R Madhavan.
In contrast, Varun’s latest outing, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai directed by David Dhawan and co-starring Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde has experienced a sluggish start since hitting theaters on June 5. Opening to highly mixed reviews, the romantic comedy managed a modest ₹7.50 crore net on its opening day in India, registering as one of the lowest domestic openings of Varun’s career.