‘You see Shah Rukh Khan’s photo on page 1’: Vijay Varma believed Bollywood has only success stories to offer

After playing the gamble that is Bollywood for the past 15 years, Vijay Varma plays an actual gambling king in Nagraj Manjule’s show Matka King on Prime Video India. Having made a career out of playing negative characters in Pink, She, Darlings, Mirzapur, and Dahaad, he’s finally playing a character, who although a gambling king, is relentlessly honest. In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, Varma opens up on approaching the character of Brij Bhatti, working with Manjule, and his early days in Mumbai. Though you’ve been playing positive characters lately, how refreshing was it to not do terrible things on screen again? It was refreshing to not be evil, menacing, dangerous or scary on screen. It’s not that I choose one over the other. I enjoy the entire spectrum of all kinds of emotions. I personally find pleasure in mixing things up. It’s interesting to see when we’re playing a character, what’s the strongest trait of that person? When I read the script, with Brij, what struck me the most was how he wanted to play the game with utmost honesty. But that’s the foundation of any financial transaction. When you trust the other person will pay what you’re meant to receive. He’s actually not an exception, he’s the rule. For people to put their hard-earned money into the game, the only way they’d be able to do it with conviction is if they know they’d get exactly what they betted on and there’s no tampering of numbers. There’s transparency because he opens the cards in front of them, and they open it for him, instead of him manipulating anything. But isn’t it a tad bit boring to play such a white character? How do you show the arc then? It’s one of the most satisfying arcs I got to grapple with. When you’re honest, the system will test you again and again. That’s how capitalism works. That’s how greed and selfish interests work. We’ve questioned all of these in the show. In the show, Brij overcomes the stigma associated with gambling. As an actor, have you had to embrace occupational hazards you were initially not comfortable with? There are some things that are out of your comfort zone. But they don’t necessarily mess with your principles. They mess with your personal preference maybe. Those are fine. Those are areas of self-growth and self-reflection. Putting myself out there as me has never been comfortable for me. But I do come out and promote my films. Ideally, I’d just like the work to come out, have people resonate with it, and get fatter paycheques. But this is part of the game. I’ve to show my face and tell my story as well. The streaming algorithm is also a lot of number crunching like gambling. How do you balance that with risk taking? I haven’t heard of that term yet. I’m glad they don’t share numbers because it just makes no sense to the audience. If someone is making money at the box office, why are others celebrating it? I don’t get it. Have you ever asked Nagraj Manjule why he cast you? I was curious as to why he cast me because he could cast a non-actor and tell the most compelling tale. He’s done it in the past with Sairat and Jhund. So, I asked him what he’s seen of me. He said, “Gully Boy.” When we met later, he said there’s a show of mine he wants to watch. So, he went back and watched Dahaad with his wife. He was pretty fascinated by the show, and loved the work as well. It’s interesting he mentioned Gully Boy because I do see a parallel between Murad (Ranveer Singh) and Brij. While the former makes rap accessible for his class, the latter does the same with gambling, bringing it down from race courses to the streets. Did you see the parallel too? No, I didn’t see that parallel. Rags to riches stories have been around, from Scarface to The Wolf of Wall Street. That’s a crazy story of someone who found a hack in the system and made shit loads of money. But Matka King is a core Bombay story. I just had to make sure it didn’t sound like anything from the modern Mumbai. Because I was part of Gully Boy, which was such a significant Mumbai moment. I wanted to make sure I didn’t sound, look or feel like the character in terms of the behaviour, mannerisms, and walk-talk. You said you’re grateful to Gully Boy because your career was “down in the dumps” prior to that. What was your headspace in the early days? I didn’t know what happens. When you come to this city as an actor, you only see the most successful stories. You see the picture of Shah Rukh Khan on page 1. Everybody is a success story. I thought you do a film and you get there. That’s your story. Your name comes there. But then came the rude realization. Actually, that innocence was important for that time to go out and get things done. If the 2008 Vijay knew that doing a film is not enough, that the film may not even release or work or your role may not be appreciated by the audience, then I wouldn’t have even tried out of fear. It’s only after trying that you realize you haven’t made it. You just hope that you get two more scenes in the next one. So, the journey is very, very slow, almost at a snail pace. But I’m glad I wasn’t aware of the failures ahead of me. Had I known, maybe I’d be scared to even attempt anything. Also Read — Dhurandhar 2 Worldwide Box Office Day 28 LIVE Updates: Ranveer Singh-starrer dips to Rs 4 cr on 4th Wednesday, global total at Rs 1,733.20 cr Finally, are you missing the action when all your co-stars from Dahaad are filming season 2? I don’t want to go back to that character, so I’m not missing anything (laughs). But of course, I wish them all the best. Such an impeccable show Reema (Kagti) and Ruchika (Oberoi) had made. When I read it, you know in the first episode who’s the killer. It’s not a whodunnit. Then what makes people watch for eight episodes is the characters and their journeys. It’s very bold and daring. No one has attempted it again. Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.