[13] Dhawan made his acting debut in 2012 with Johar's teen film Student of the Year alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt.

[13] He was cast as Rohan Nanda, the teenage son of a rich businessman, who competes with his girlfriend (Bhatt) and best friend (Malhotra) to win an annual school championship.

[16] Dhawan next starred in the romantic comedy Main Tera Hero (2014), a remake of the Telugu film Kandireega, which was produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and directed by his father David.

[21] Rohit Khilnani of India Today praised his screen presence, and Nandini Ramnath of Mint noted how much he stood out in the "few quieter scenes" of the film.

[16] The crime thriller Badlapur (2015) from director Sriram Raghavan saw Dhawan play Raghu, a father who over the course of 15 years avenges the murder of his wife and son.

[25] Raja Sen of Rediff.com praised his acting range, writing that he "sheds his easy-breezy charm — but, crucially, not his slightly hapless natural likeability — and bubbles up volcanically, his eyes frequently doing the talking.

[29] ABCD 2 earned ₹1.67 billion (US$19 million) worldwide;[16] the film's commercial performance led Box Office India to consider it an emergence of Dhawan's star power.

[36] In addition, Tushar Joshi of Daily News and Analysis noted that "Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt prove that on screen chemistry can be enough sometimes to keep you engaged in an average plot with a predictable narrative".

[3][4] October, written by Sircar's frequent collaborator Juhi Chaturvedi, saw him portray Danish Walia, an aimless hotel management trainee whose life undergoes a series of changes when his co-worker goes into a coma.

In a highly positive review, Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost commended Dhawan for "effac[ing] his starry swagger and trademark cutesiness to play Dan"; Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times considered it to be his finest performance to date and wrote that "his humour is innate, but his understanding of pain and how it affects the human behaviour is even better".

[40][41] Sui Dhaaga featured Dhawan and Anushka Sharma respectively as Mauji and Mamta, a newly-wed couple in rural India who begin their own small-scale clothing business.

[44] Set in the 1940s prior to the partition of India, the film featured him as a womanising blacksmith; for the physical demands of the part, he trained extensively despite suffering from a knee injury and hamstring tear, and insisted on performing his own stunts.

[46] Dhawan began the new decade with the dance film Street Dancer 3D (2020), which Namrata Joshi of The Hindu termed a "compilation of indistinguishable performances".

[50] Critical and public reception to the film was negative, largely in light of the nepotism debate due to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

[57] Dhawan starred opposite Janhvi Kapoor in Nitesh Tiwari's Bawaal (2023), a romantic drama about a feuding couple who learn about World War II as they travel across Europe.

[59] In a scathing review, Santanu Das of Hindustan Times criticised the lack of chemistry between the lead pair and dismissed Dhawan as "particularly exasperating to witness".

[66] Dhawan will continue his collaborations with Dharma Productions and reunite with Janhvi Kapoor in the romantic comedy Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari.

[77] In 2013, he performed at a special event alongside Malhotra, Bhatt, Kapur, Kapoor, and Badlapur co-star Huma Qureshi to raise funds for the flood-affected victims of Uttarakhand.

[81] Rahul Gangwani of Filmfare termed Dhawan a "complete package" and added, "Good looks, a flair for dance, acting chops...and above all a sense of adventure to tread the untried.

[91] Dhawan is a celebrity endorser for several brands and products such as Fossil Watches, Navratna Cool, Philips, Frooti, Panasonic and Maruti Suzuki (particularly, Arena) among others.