Varun Dhawan says working with brother Rohit in 'Dishoom' was far from easy

It's taken for granted that when an actor works with a family member, things become easier for him as they (family members) know their (the actor's) strengths and weaknesses. But Varun Dhawan, who has earlier worked with dad David Dhawan in Main Tera Hero and now with brother Rohit Dhawan in his upcoming flick Dishoom, doesn't agree.

Varun feels that it becomes tougher when a family member is around. He explains, "I feel it gets tougher because like you said they know your strengths and weaknesses and so they push you. So my brother knows my pain threshold. Every day on set, he was like, 'Be Junaid Ansari, be Junaid Ansari. You are not Varun Dhawan, you are Junaid Ansari, you are a cop, you are not Indian, you are from the Middle East and you talk in this language, you do this you do that.' So after shooting for 45-60 days we were not even meeting, because I have to be Junaid Ansari, I don’t have to be his brother. So we would meet on the sets, whatever relationship we had, we had on the sets and then after pack up I would not even speak to my brother. I would be Junaid Ansari, jo after pack-up ghar jayega, ya Abu Dhabi mein mall jayega. Woh Airlift release hui hai, Neerja release hui hai, toh woh dekhne jayega  (After pack-up I would be Junaid Ansari who would either go home after pack up or go to a mall in Abu Dhabi. He would go and catch a show of Airlift or Neerja)."

Apparently, family times are not always fun times.

So if Varun didn't spend time with his brother for those 60 days that he shot for Dishoom, then where did he go? Whom did he spend his time with? Varun reveals, "For those 55 -60 days I was chilling with my driver who’s from Islamabad and he was 65 years old. Because I had to feel like someone who is not from this country and living away, I formed a special bond with him. He would suggest places to visit and eat and make me listen to music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and he liked Pankaj Udhas ka song 'Chitthi aayi hai'".

Varun's 'special bond' with his driver turned out to be really fruitful for him. He elaborates, "I got a lot of inspiration from my driver. Because I had to speak Arabic in the film and I had a coach for 15-20 days but I eventually gave my lines to my driver and say, 'Aap bolo kaise bolna hai' (You say the lines how they are supposed to be said) and he would everyday sudharo (improve) my dialect."

Dishoom, which also stars John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshaye Khanna and Nargis Fakhri, will hit the theatres on July 29.