India, Nov. 14 -- For a decade, Varun Dhawan has vied to fill the void of the goofy hero left by Govinda and 90s' Salman Khan. In a spate of films - some of them remakes of these stars' films - he has tried to be the Millennial Hero No 1. But curiously, his best performances have come when he has shed this veneer and tried to dig deep with greater intensity. From Badlapur to October, the examples are right there.

Of late, he has tried to become more of a mass action hero than ever before. Bhediya has served him well in that regard, while Baby John was a miss. But Border 2 can take that to another level, if done well, that is.

The first poster of the upcoming war film transforms Varun into a soldier, the quintessential angry young man on...