4 min readNew DelhiFeb 12, 2026 07:04 PM IST
Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan is having the last laugh – quite literally. When the Border 2 trailer dropped, his smile quickly became meme material, making him a favourite target of online trolling. Varun, however, took it in good humour. The tone changed once the film released and audiences saw his performance, with many of those same voices turning into praise. Now, the actor has spoken about how Salman Khan stood by him during the trolling phase and later celebrated his success once the film won over audiences.
Varun Dhawan on trolling and Salman Khan’s late night call
Speaking at the film’s success press conference alongside the cast and crew, Varun said that in today’s digital age, almost everyone faces online criticism. He said, it was something he chose not to take too seriously.
Varun shared that while people were mocking his smile online, Salman Khan reached out to him personally. Recalling the moment, he said, “When all this was going on, I got a phone call from Salman bhai at night. He was just laughing, and he said, ‘Good things are about to come’. His advice and belief meant a lot to me.”
After the film’s release, Salman called again – this time to congratulate him. “Later, when Border 2 was released and it did so well, again he called me and said he’s so happy for all of us. Something he said that stays very close to my heart… it was 2 am and I stood up on my bed after I heard it. He said, ‘I am proud of you, beta’. That was a very defining moment for me because he doesn’t praise people easily. I am just saying because he didn’t need to do that, and his praise gave me a lot of confidence. End of the day, I believed in the film and Lord Krishna, aur jo hai abhi, it’s part of history now.”
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Border 2 box office collection
Border 2 has emerged as a major box office success. The film has grossed Rs 464.22 crore worldwide, with an India gross of Rs 377 crore after 20 days of release. It is now the second-highest-grossing film of Sunny Deol’s career, while also becoming the highest earner for Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, and Ahan Shetty.
At the same press conference, producer Bhushan Kumar spoke about the film’s box office reporting, stressing that the team chose to present only genuine numbers. He shared that Sunny Deol had insisted on maintaining transparency even before release.
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Bhushan said, “Before the release of the film during advance booking, Sunny Deol told me we should declare normal numbers because we keep hearing how people are buying tickets and doing other such things to promote their film, but we never even think of indulging in such activities. I answered Sunny Deol that we are going full organic, our advances are organic. And these things always come out, if you do anything fishy, the audience gets to know, so I’m very happy that we have shown real numbers for our film.”
About Border 2
Directed by Anurag Singh, Border 2 is set against the backdrop of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, J. P. Dutta and Nidhi Dutta under the banners of T-Series Films and J. P. Films.
Alongside Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty and Diljit Dosanjh in lead roles, the film also features Mona Singh, Medha Rana, Anya Singh and Sonam Bajwa.
Varun Dhawan talks about Salman Khan's phone call after Border 2 success. (Photo: Instagram/Varun Dhawan, Salman Khan)