Vijay Varma played the role of a hustler in Gully Boy (2019). However, the role in the movie may have a close resemblance to his real life. Vijay has been trending on social media after a New Year's video from Goa went viral showing him sharing a kiss with Baahubali actress Tamannaah Bhatia. As fans ship the alleged new couple of Bollywood, let's take a look at how Vijay started his journey in the film industry and became Bollywood's 'Darling' for off-beat roles.
A call centre employee and working odd jobs
Vijay Varma belongs to Hyderabad with no connection to the film industry. He has an elder brother and sister. He completed his graduation but did not want to join his father's business, so he decided to take up jobs that he could get easily after his studies. These jobs would also keep him away from his family, which his father did not like. "I did many courses. However, I could not get a decent job. I took up a job at a call center and trained there for three months. Before this, I sold petro cards at a petrol pump. I sold sim cards. I also did an event management course and did some work related to it. However, I was not good at any of the jobs. This troubled me. I wanted to do acting but did not have the confidence of taking it up," Vijay said in an interview for Rekhta Foundation.
Read: Tamannaah Bhatia-Vijay Varma make first appearance after their viral 'kissing' video | Photos
Move towards acting
Vijay Varma shared that he was very much into comic books and video games while growing up. The love for acting and gravitation towards it came at a much later stage. "Heroes for me were action stars like Jet Li and Jackie Chan. I tasted the flavour of acting when friends came into my life. We used to watch movies and enact scenes. I modelled a bit in Hyderabad for a bakery. It was at a very amateur level. I went to a theater school named Sutradhaar but they turned me down. I gave up and kept failing at those odd jobs. I came across an ad about FTII and I applied secretly. They selected me somehow for the workshops but I could not get through. I joined Sutradhaar with conviction and they accepted me. I trained for three months and that was my first break in acting. I applied at FTII again and I got in this time around."
Read: Tamannah Bhatia-Vijay Varma dating? Actors allegedly spotted kissing in Goa | Viral Video
Early roles
Vijay said that he was working on and off in the industry since 2005. Tension had crept between him and his father due to his choice of career but things got well after 2013 when his film Rangrezz released. VIjay's dad saw it in cinema halls and preserved the movie tickets. Later, he showed it to his son and praised him. All was good with the 2016 release Pink, which saw Vijay on a poster with Amitabh Bachchan. Rest, as they say, is history.
Vijay will be seen in the upcoming film from director Shoojit Sircar, which is an adaptation of Keigo Higashino's novel The Devotion of Suspect X. It also features Kareena Kapoor Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat. He will also reprise his role in the Prime Video series Mirzapur 3.
