3 min readKochiJun 23, 2026 10:54 AM IST
Although her appearance as actor Varun Dhawan’s “fake mother” in director David Dhawan’s Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai drew widespread criticism and online trolling, actor Mouni Roy is unperturbed by such comments. Maintaining that she was not bothered by the clamour, Mouni said all that mattered to her was delivering what the director expected of her.
The age-gap controversy Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai faced
“I can’t do anything about it. I didn’t care what the noise was. I didn’t care what people were saying. It became such a big thing that ‘how can the makers do this to me!’ But I knew what I had done in the film. I knew that my director was very happy, and so is everybody I’ve worked with on the film,” she told News18.
For the unversed, a wave of criticism came the way of the makers of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai following the release of the film’s trailer, as many ridiculed the casting of 40-year-old Mouni Roy as the (fake) mother of 39-year-old Varun. Many trolled the casting of two actors of almost the same age in real life as mother and son on screen, even though their relationship was portrayed as fake.
Mouni Roy recalls her first reaction to playing Varun Dhawan’s ‘mother’
Although the actor is elated to have been given the opportunity to work on the film, she said she was taken aback upon learning she would play Varun’s (fake) mother. She recounted, “First, Mukesh Chhabra (casting director) had called me. When he told me about the part, my first reaction was also that. I was like, ‘His mother?’ Then I went and heard a narration from David sir and Farhad Samji (dialogue writer).”
The actor continued, “I laughed my guts out! Just imagine, Varun is calling Maniesh (Maniesh Paul) and saying, ‘Maa ka phone call nahi chahiye, puri ki puri maa chahiye. Nirupa Roy jaisi.‘ Cut to, you see me walk in, where someone else is telling Jimmy sir’s character, ‘Yeh maa ke liye thodi chhoti nahi hai?‘”
Praising David Dhawan, Mouni said that his films have always been close to her heart. She stated, “I’m a huge David Dhawan fan. His films are my friends. They are my comfort watch. He said that this will be his last film. Also, it’s 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 mein yeh kar kya rahi hai!‘”
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai box office collection
Also starring Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde, Maniesh Paul, Chunky Panday, and Jimmy Sheirgill in key roles, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai opened to poor reviews and eventually flopped at the box office, grossing just Rs 74.23 crore worldwide, according to industry tracker Sacnilk.
