Actor Varun Dhawan appears in a never-before-seen action avatar in the first teaser of Atlee’s Baby John, which offers a glimpse of the important characters and promises a massy, action-packed entertainer with an emotional backstory.

Dropped by the makers on Monday, the teaser also offers a look at Varun as a clean-shaven, short-haired cop, which is in contrast with his Baby John character that sports a heavy beard and long locks.

The one-minute-57-second-long video shows Varun in khaki uniform, single-handedly taking down his foes. The teaser hints at his character’s deep bond with his daughter and his willingness to confront a “haunting” past to protect her.

Explosive scenes and a hail of bullets set a charged tone as the video ends with Varun declaring that he is unlike anyone who came before.

The trailer also offers glimpses of Wamiqa Gabbi and Keerthy Suresh, who is making her Bollywood debut with the film. Jackie Shroff features as a formidable antagonist. Rajpal Yadav is also expected to play a key role in the film.

Baby John is directed by A. Kaleeswaran and marks Atlee’s second Bollywood movie after Jawan, starring Shah Rukh Khan, last year.

Produced by Murad Khetani, Priya Atlee, Jyoti Deshpande, Amul V Mohan and Sudhanshu Kumar, Baby John is slated to hit theatres on December 25.

Varun was recently seen in a cameo role in the Amar Kaushik-directed horror comedy Stree 2, co-starring Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi. The actor has Shashank Khaitan’s Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari in the pipeline. The upcoming romcom marks Varun’s second collaboration with Janhvi Kapoor following their pairing in Nitesh Tiwari’s Bawaal last year.

Varun will also headline Prime Video’s upcoming spy thriller series Citadel: Honey Bunny alongside Samantha Ruth Prabhu.