EXCLUSIVE| Vijay Varma recalls being out of work during his early days in Mumbai: It was a ‘making ends meet’ kind of low

Having been a part of the entertainment industry for a decade now, actor Vijay Varma has been a part of several interesting films. From Chittagong (2012) and Rangrezz (2013) to Manto (2018), Gully Boy and Super 30 (2019), the actor has come a long way and established himself as a bankable name in the industry. The past ten years, however, have also brought with them several big lessons for Vijay.

"I think I have played the patience game, and I play for a long inning," he said in an exclusive interview with Zoom TV Digital. With a realisation that "nobody is going to serve things on a platter," Vijay said he sees his career as a test match.

"My only way to play this is like a test match cricketer – to be on the crease and let each session go by. So it’s to not leave the crease, just to keep playing and being patient and really improving your game with each session. So that’s how I see my career - as a long inning," he explained.

Throughout it all, the actor has also witnessed a few financial lows in his life. Vijay recently opened up about his initial years in Mumbai in his conversation with Srishti Dixit on Bumble's Dating These Nights. The actor revealed that he decided to run away to pursue his film school course without telling his father. When asked about his low phase, the actor shared: "I’ve really faced a lot of financial lows early on in my life in Mumbai. When I was out of work and I was trying to figure out work and where I stand, it was basically just being broke because there was no work. So that was a low phase and it lasted for years. It was a ‘making ends meet’ kind of low and sometimes really really low."

Vijay, now a commercially successful and critically acclaimed name in showbiz, has also faced his share of rejections. The actor, however, figured out how to navigate his way through it all - mostly by trial and error. "I particularly did not understand on what grounds I am being liked or not liked for a certain part. So one way of dealing with it was that I stopped trying for everything and I started trying for only things that I thought are something that I’m (a) attracted to and (b) suitable for in my head," he said, adding that he did a 'little shortlisting' of the auditions he received and pursued only the ones he felt gravitated towards. This led Vijay to put more effort into one direction rather than pouring it all into four auditions. The other way that Vijay decided was to do theatre instead of waiting for work to happen. "I would have an audience, get a stage to perform and I would get an opportunity to hone my skills. I felt like becoming better is a better choice than being where you are and getting rejected," said the actor who last graced the big screen in Darlings.

Helmed by Jasmeet K. Reen, the film stars Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah and Roshan Mathew along with Vijay. The actor stepped in the shoes of Hamza Shaikh, a character many might find difficult to ace on the screen. But for Vijay, Hamza was made easy through a lot of prep work before the film started.

"Whenever I know there is a character or a scene that is difficult, I try to prep heavy so that on the day of the shoot, I am able to enjoy and go through the shoot easily. It was just that to understand this twisted mind, it took some time and also to keep my personal judgments about the character aside and really be an advocate for this character," said the actor, confessing that it was a bit of a painful journey because he detested the man and yet he was playing this person. "That dichotomy got me a few times," he said.

Overall, however, the experience was enriching for Vijay because he had an incredible team to work with. Crediting the team of Darlings, Vijay said: "My director helped me, guided me, held my hand, walked me through it, and with Alia being absolutely incredible and a supportive co-actor, it was easier to go through these traumatic scenes together just because we were both on the same page. We were ready to play ball. So, it became very easy."

When asked about the toughest part to shoot, Vijay confessed that it's the portions where he is tied up. "What you see on screen is probably one-tenth of the amount of time I have spent being tied up. I just did not like the experience of it at all. Sometimes something is itching in your neck and you can’t use your hand and your body is locked in this position, sometimes it hurts, and overall it doesn’t feel great to be caged like that," said the actor.

Up next, Vijay will be a part of Sujoy Ghosh's The Devotion of Suspect X, an adaptation of Japanese author Higashino Keigo’s bestselling 2005 novel The Devotion of Suspect X. The film co-stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat in lead roles.