Mouni Roy remained unfazed by widespread trolling over her role as 39-year-old Varun Dhawan’s fake mother in ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, despite being just a year older than him. However, the David Dhawan film flopped at the box office, grossing just Rs 74.23 crore worldwide.
Despite facing severe backlash and social media trolling for her role as actor Varun Dhawan’s ‘fake mother’ in David Dhawan’s ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, Mouni Roy remains unfazed by the controversy. The actress ignored the hype, saying that her sole focus was to live up to the director’s vision and give him exactly what he was looking for.
Mouni Roy on trolling: ‘I didn’t care what people said’
In an interview with News18, she said: “I couldn’t do anything about it. I didn’t care what the hype was. I didn’t care what people were saying. It had become so big that it was ‘How could filmmakers do this to me!’ But I knew what I had done in the film. I knew my director was very happy, and so was everyone I worked with in the film.”
Why did Mouni Roy’s choice spark outrage?
For those who don’t know, the film’s trailer sparked a wave of backlash directed at the makers of ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, with audiences mocking the decision to cast 40-year-old Mouni as Varun’s 39-year-old on-screen mother, albeit a fake one. The actors’ near-identical ages in real life became a hot topic of ridicule, as viewers found it difficult to comprehend their mother-son dynamic, even with the fictional context of it being a fictitious relationship.
Mouni Roy’s first reaction: “His mother?”
While the actress expressed her genuine excitement about being part of the project, she admitted that the nature of her role surprised her at first. Recalling the moment she first heard about the role, she said: “First, Mukesh Chhabra (the casting director) called me. When he told me about the role, my first reaction was that too. I said to him: ‘His mother?’ Then I went and heard a talk from Syed Dawood and
Farhad Samji
(dialogue writer).”
The actor continued, “I laughed so hard! Just imagine Varun calling Manish (Manish Paul) and saying, ‘Maa ka nahi chahiye phone call, puri kipuri maa chahiye. Nirupa Roy jaisi.'” Absolutely, you see me walking, as someone else says to Jimmy sir’s character, “Yeh maa ke liye thodi chhoti nahi hai?”.
Mouni Roy on David Dhawan: “His films are my comfort viewing”
Mouni praised the director, spoke about her deep admiration for David Dhawan and revealed why she couldn’t say no to the project.
She stated, “I am a huge fan of David Dhawan. His films are my friends. It’s my comfort watch. He said this would be his last film. It’s also a comedy, and I was doing comedy for the first time. So, I was really looking forward to it. They kept me away from all the promotions.”
It was a good call as it made people curious, ‘Film main ye kar kya rahi hai!’
Mouni Roy’s film tops the box office
The movie that also appeared
Mrunal Thakur
,
Pooja Hegde
Manish Paul, Chunky Panday, and
Jimmy Shergill
In important roles, he failed to leave a mark on critics or audiences alike. ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’ ultimately turned out to be a disappointment at the box office, managing to collect just Rs 74.23 crore worldwide, according to industry tracker Sacnilk.