Enough of embracing dark and intense characters — be it in Darlings (2022), Jaane Jaan (2023), or Dahaad (2023). Now, Vijay Varma is in the mood for love. The actor attempts his first love story with director Vibhu Puri’s Gustaakh Ishq, opposite Fatima Sana Shaikh. To the audience, his switch from brooding characters to a lover boy may seem like an aberration. But to Varma, it feels natural.
“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. When the announcement happened, it looked like an anti-casting because 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 says.
Gustaakh Ishq isn’t the first romantic script to have been offered to the actor. A lot of nos were said before he lost his heart to the period love story. “Many romantic films came to me all these years, but I didn’t see myself in them. 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.”
There was another reason to say yes to the movie — Naseeruddin Shah. Varma starred with the veteran actor in IC 814 (2024), but they didn’t share screen space. To finally face the camera with Shah is a moment of pride in Varma’s 17-year career. “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. 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 marvels.
Starring in a romantic drama? Check. Sharing screen space with your hero? Check. Does Varma have any more wishes? “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 smiles.
Vijay Varma’s favourite romantic dramas
‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (1995); (right) ‘Sadma’ (1983)
‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (1995)
“It’s one of the most fascinating love stories I have ever seen.”
‘Sadma’ (1983)
“The sweet bond that the leads shared was interesting, something that I had never seen before or since.”
