Actor Vijay Varma, who is playing a cop in upcoming web series Kaalkoot, admits that the OTT medium loves him and much as he loves it back

Nonika Singh

HE has been earning plaudits for playing the devious mean guy with back-to-back powerhouse performances in both Darlings and Dahaad. The talented actor Vijay Varma we love to hate is now turning a new leaf. To be soon seen as a police officer in the new web series Kaalkoot, he finds the change refreshing and laughs, “I have been chased by the cops for too long. Now is time to be on this side of the law.”

On the other side, we wonder if inhabiting the dark space that a negative character requires takes a toll, and he says, “Well, it comes with both prize and price. While the critical acclaim is rewarding, the price is the memories of the bad guy can stay with viewers and delude them into mistaking your onscreen persona for your real one.” Precisely why, while this time he is happily telling his family, ‘watch, watch’, while previously his instruction for them was to strictly refrain from his ‘bad guy’ acts! Jokes apart, be it a positive or negative character, messaging is very important for him.

As Kaalkoot deals with a burning concern of acid attack, he says, “Besides focusing on the issue it simultaneously questions who apart from the perpetrator of the crime is responsible for this heinous act.”

Headlining a series as opposed to his earlier projects which had stars to take the fall, does he feel greater pressure this time? “Well, I would have if I were not confident of the series which is my passion project.” Co-produced by Amritpal Singh Bindra of Bandish Bandits fame and directed by Sumit Saxena, writer of films like Doctor G, Hamid and Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Vijay is sure the series has all that it takes. Add to it the fact that it is available on “more massy medium Jio Cinemas and the reach could be phenomenal.”

Digital presence

Darling of OTT, he admits the medium loves him and he loves it back equally. Been around for a while, having played smaller parts in umpteen projects, back in time he didn’t know if the current phase of his career was around the corner. “But, I was always hungry for meatier parts.” But today, he might still say yes to cameos as in A Suitable Boy or a Gully Boy if it gives him the chance to work with the likes of a Mira Nair or a Zoya Akhtar.

“Directors do help you sharpen your skill set and adapt to their vision, and not just rely on your instinct,” he qualifies. Passion is what drives him and it’s this ‘palpable energy’ he looks for in his directors, be it debutants like Jasmeet K Reen or seasoned ones.

If he tips the hat to his directors, he owes an even greater debt of gratitude to his alma mater — the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) Pune. “A solid 70 per cent of what I am is thanks to this great institution which showed me the way. Prior to enrolling in FTII, I was an angry, clueless man.”

Today, of course, he is in the happiest space possible, much credit of which also goes to the love of his life, Tamannaah Bhatia, with whom he was seen upping the chemistry quotient in a segment of Lust Stories 2. As he is not just raising the bar in acting but also setting some couple goals, he defines love as, “an endless monsoon where you enjoy the rains.” If angst maketh an actor, does love add to one’s acting potential? He says, “Both are equally important for the arts. Just as nature has several moods, it feels good to be loved.”

Busy man

Open to all kind of queries, however, one question he refuses to answer is whether we can hear the wedding bells anytime soon? Planning his wedding or not, he is a busy man for sure as his acting slate is both exciting and choc-o-bloc. Apart from Sujoy Ghosh’s upcoming project, there is Homi Adajania’s Murder Mubarak. What makes him say yes to a project and sign on the dotted line is, “What it is saying, whether I see myself in the part.” Watch out for him in Kaalkoot (July 27 on Jio Cinemas). Good guy or a bad one, his ‘mental maths’ of acting invariably adds up!

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