IC814 Star Vijay Varma Reveals He Was 'Dropped' From Sacred Games: 'Was Locked, Did My Measurements...'

Actor Vijay Varma became a household name after he starred in Ranveer Singh’s Gully Boy. His popularity sky-rocketed after acting in projects like Darlings, Jaane Jaan, and Mirzapur and now, he has caught everyone’s attention with IC814: The Kandahar Hijack. However, work didn’t come easy to him and he was even dropped from popular projects like Sacred Games.

Vijay Varma said that while casting directors believed in his potential, he still didn’t get any projects before Gully Boy. “There were no offers until about post-Gully Boy. Casting directors did believe in me, but I was not given a chance for a long, long time,” Vijay told Indianexpress.com.

He continued, “In some auditions, I was on the waitlist, in the top five, top two and then I was locked and then I was dropped! I was locked in Sacred Games, I did my costume measurements and then I got dropped. Stuff like that has happened, but some part of me kept the faith and belief. Work started coming in after Gully Boy, but I think I was so starved for work, that I took a lot of it after the film.”

He mentioned that he didn’t realise when he got typecasted for playing negative characters. Vijay said, “When Darlings happened, I couldn’t imagine myself in that role and then a series of roles happened where I was playing extremely devious, atrocious or devious men. A part of me wanted to break it but I couldn’t possibly do it myself. I found great support in filmmakers, who said they had seen me like that and wanted to offer me something new.

“That’s how Sujoy Ghosh got me Jaane Jaan, where he decided to show me in a new light. Homi Adajania gave me Murder Mubarak, and Anubhav Sinha sir got me IC 814. Someone who has just seen Darlings and Dahaad will not think this is the most noble character we have, and we want this guy to play him. The industry works in mysterious ways, when they see potential in you, they also want to give you the chance to tap on the other side of you. I didn’t break any stereotypes, because I didn’t make any stereotypes. They made it, they broke it,” he added.

Currently, Vijay Varma is seen in IC814: The Kandahar Hijack. The show is available to stream on Netflix.