Sidharth Malhotra or Varun Dhawan: Who Has a Brighter Future in Bollywood?

About five years ago, Karan Johar released the poster of his next film Student of the Year. The popular director, whose every film had Shah Rukh Khan till that point (along with other established actors), announced that wouldn’t be the case with this film. Instead, his new project would have three fresh faces: Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan.

In 2012, Student of the Year became a blockbuster success and the three unknown actors suddenly became the future of Bollywood.

It’s 2016 and all three actors are building an impressive career. Alia Bhatt, whose film Udta Punjab releases this month, is considered to be one of top actresses working in the industry today. She is the only actor of the three to have won major acting awards. For her role in Highway, she won the Filmfare Critics Award.

With Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone getting busy in Hollywood, Alia might well become the top-most actress of Bollywood in the coming years.

That leaves Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra to discuss.

Both the actors started as assistant directors to Karan Johar in My Name is Khan. Since their collective debut, it was clear that these actors had very distinct style and each would have to carve out a separate niche in Bollywood in order to be successful. And they have.

But it’s difficult to resist the urge to compare. So since Student of the Year released in 2012, we analyse how they have performed in each year since.

2013.

After breaking through with Student of the Year the previous year, both the actors took time in taking their next step. They weren't part of any films.

Result: Draw

2014.

In 2013, they both didn't have any films releasing. In 2014, each of them had two.

Varun Dhawan first worked with his legendary father David Dhawan for Main Tera Hero. The film like classic David Dhawan films was a madcap mixture of action and comedy but didn't quite become the success everyone hoped for. His other release was another romantic-comedy Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania, along with SOTY co-star Alia Bhatt. The film's box-office success has inspired a sequel.

Unlike his counterpart, Sidharth Malhotra took a slightly darker route. His film Ek Villain, a thriller by Mohit Suri, became a box-office sensation. While, his romantic-comedy Hasee Toh Phasee opposite Parineeti Chopra received good reviews and was a moderate success.

Winner: Sidharth Malhotra

2015.

Varun Dhawan had three big films releasing in 2015. Badlapur was where he proved his acting ability opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Huma Qureshi.  ABCD 2 was a commercial giant, earning over 150 crore. And co-starring in Dilwale, along with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, was one of the biggest movies of the year, despite receiving negative reviews.

By comparison, Sidharth Malhotra had a lightly-packed year. His only movie was Brothers, which was Hollywood remake of the film Warrior. The film had the actor starring opposite Akshay Kumar but the film underperformed both commercially and critically.

Winner: Varun Dhawan

2016.

Sidharth Malhotra starred in the family drama Kapoor & Sons with Alia Bhatt and Fawad Khan. Though he was not singled out in the praise for the film but it was a much needed hit for the actor.  His other film of the year will be Baar Baar Dekho oppposite Katrina Kaif. The film will be a romantic drama and is scheduled to be released in September.

Varun Dhawan's only film of the year would be action movie Dishoom opposite John Abraham. The film, directed by his brother Rohit Dhawan, is remake of successful Malayalam film Mumbai Police. The film is set to be released on 29 July.

Winner: To be decided

What do the critics say?

Both the actors have been appreciated by the critics circle. While Varun Dhawan has been praised for his natural charm and humour, Sidharth Malhotra has been likened to early Amitabh Bachchan by some critics. Though, Varun has also proved his worth by scoring his first major Filmfare nomination for Badlapur.

Verdict

They both have appeared in about the same number of films since they broke through with Student of the Year. Varun Dhawan, except Badlapur, has appeared in comedy films, while Sidharth Malhotra has mixed-and-matched with various genres. It's hard to predict who will be succesful in the long-run, but right now they both seem like genuine top-of-the-industry actors.

What do you think?