Vijay Varma reveals he once lost hope in his career, felt his dream was over: 'Jiske liye ghar se bhaaga...' | Exclusive

Vijay Varma is on cloud nine as far as his career is concerned. The actor is reaping the rewards of his years of struggle with back-to-back successes in critically-acclaimed shows like Dahaad and Kaalkoot, and looking forward to Jaane Jaan with Kareena Kapoor and Jaideep Ahlawat. Talking to DNA about this golden phase of his career, the actor says he is grateful he saw success and reveals how it has changed him.

Talking about his success, Vijay says, “When you get something after a long time, you understand its real value. Your feet stay firmly on the ground because you know what it feels like not to have this. I feel the efforts I have put in for so many years are paying off.”

His performance in Dahaad recently earned him a Best Actor award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. He also attended Cannes this year as well as the Berlinale. Talking about this success at film festivals, the actor shares, “It started with Berlinale where Dahaad was screened. I have gone to festivals as a student when I was in FTII (Film and Television Institute of India). For me, it was a genuine festive atmosphere, my tyohaar you could call it. It is a celebration of cinema. So in that regard, this year was good for me because after Berlin, it was Cannes, then IIFA and finally Melbourne. To take your cinema to some other country and present it there is something to be proud of.”

After his debut with Chittagong in 2012, it took several years of hardships before Vijay tasted success with his breakthrough role in Gully Boy, which released in 2019. Explaining how it has changed him, Vijay says, “I agree that there is some stability now. Jo andar se restlessness rehti hai, who kam hai (That restlessness you have within is less now). When you are not where you want to be in life, that restlessness is there. But then it feels good when you get there. You can breathe a sigh of relief, enjoy the view. I am in that zone now. But I work harder now. That hasn’t changed.”

Vijay has spoken about the ‘dark phase’ of his life when he wasn’t getting quality work and his roles were not getting notices. “I was hopeless,” he says about that time, adding that he thought his dream of becoming a successful actor was over. “I thought this dream that I had harboured, for which I ran away from home, how long could I stretch it. I felt that the dream had lost its way. But somehow, the release and success of Gully Boy reinforced that energy, goodness, faith, and confidence in me. It’s like charging your battery. That is what success is,” adds the actor.

And he has no plans of stopping. He is already thinking of newer and more different thing he could do. “I am a big fan of poetry, and subtle small things in life. I like that kind of simple cinema. My wish is to be a part of some simple, poetic film. Although most of my recent roles have some poetry link but not in a romantic way. So, I want to be part of a poetic love story now,” says Vijay when asked about interest in doing romantic films.

Is that his attempt at avoiding typecast? After all, he has been playing bad guys for some time now. Vijay does not agree. He shares, “I have never been scared of typecast because the actors I have grown up watching did not believe in that either. There are actors who listen to outside noise and there are actors who hear their own voice. I am in the second group. It did not matter to me that people were thinking I could only do one kind of role because I used to feel I could never do negative roles. So, when I did not know about my capabilities, so how can anyone else know that.”