Vijay Varma has spent the last few years living in the shadows on screen, playing dark and intense roles in projects like 'Darlings', 'Jaane Jaan', 'Dahaad' and 'Mirzapur'. Now he is ready to step into the light with director Vibhu Puri’s period love story ' Gustaakh Ishq ', in which he stars opposite Fatima Sana Shaikh . Speaking to Mid Day, he opened up about why this switch into romance feels both risky and deeply familiar.
Finding love after the 'intense tag'For many viewers, Varma’s transformation into a lover boy may seem surprising, but he insists it makes perfect sense. “I wasn’t surprised that Vibhu offered me this part. I came from a stage background, the memories [of being part of romantic dramas] are living within me,” he says. When 'Gustaakh Ishq' was announced, he understood why some people saw it as anti-casting. “Mirzapur, Dahaad, and Darlings came back-to-back and [gave me] the intense tag. That tag won’t be dropped even with this film,” he admits.
He reveals that 'Gustaakh Ishq' is not the first love story that came his way. “Many romantic films came to me all these years, but I didn’t see myself in them,” Varma explains. A big reason was his dislike of typical musical set pieces. “I don’t want to dance a lot in movies. I don’t want to sing and dance because they are not my forte. So, I needed to pick the script that works for me.” The gentler, more dramatic tone of this period romance finally felt like a match for his strengths.
Sharing the frame with a lifelong heroAnother major draw was the chance to work closely with Naseeruddin Shah after appearing in 'IC 814' without sharing the frame. “He was my teacher [at Film & Television Institute of India]. I have worked backstage in his theatre productions. Ever since I came to Mumbai, I haven’t missed a single play that he has done. I’ve idolised him,” Varma recalls.
He still marvels at how far that admiration has taken him. “I feel like patting my own back because as a boy in Hyderabad, I wished to meet him. And here I spent two months with him in the winter of Amritsar, enjoying delicacies together,” he says.
Even as he embraces romance, Varma is already dreaming about his next challenge. “I have to do a comedy, not because I want to break an image, but because I want to do every kind of film. It’s just a matter of time with the right script,” he adds.
His taste in love stories is rooted in classics. He calls 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' “one of the most fascinating love stories I have ever seen” and says “the sweet bond that the leads shared” in 'Sadma' was “something that I had never seen before or since,” influences that quietly echo in his new romantic chapter.