'There's deep-seated revenge and at the same time, longing.'
Vijay Varma admits that he has arrived at a new level of recognition in the last couple of years.
"It was a very slow and long process, until it came to a moment where the work that I had done started to reflect in success. I had met a lot of failures early on in projects not releasing, not getting made, and not finding the audiences.
"I went through this trajectory and eventually, the work that I did in the last two-three years found a lot of audiences and I think that results in success," he tells Subhash K Jha.
Vijay shares his Mirzapur journey, where he plays twins: Bade and Chote Tyagi.
"Back in February 2019, Gully Boy had released. Within the same week, I got approached by Excel and the director, Gurmmeet Singh. They offered me the double role, the twin brothers, in Mirzapur season 2 and I was already a fan of season 1.
"It was a very easy choice for me and my first double role."
Vijay reminisces about the highpoints of his career.
"If I look at the big highlight moments, my first film Monsoon Shootout, playing at Cannes in 2013, was a big moment for me. This is the first film I had signed, and Chittagong was the first film I shot.
"The next big highlight was probably Ray of Hope because I was out of a job, didn't have any money, and my career was nowhere. I did a small part, but it kind of resurfaced a little bit, for some people, at least. It brought me back and gave me hope that I also could do something.
"Gully Boy was a big highlight, which changed a lot of things for me. The success of the film and the appreciation I received was the first I had in this capacity. After Gully Boy, pretty much everything has been smooth sailing.
"Mirzapur is also a highlight because that was the first time I saw a show generating crazy reactions from the audience. This was one of the early shows and one of the reasons why people started binge-watching Indian series. I saw a drastic increase in the fan following and social media.
"Darlings and Dahaad were also highlights because they are a killer movie/ show and I got immense love and appreciation.
"Jaane Jaan is one of the highlights too."
"I played two characters in Mirzapur season two and at the end of it, we find out that there was a massive shootout and both are down on the floor. One of them has a fatal wound on the head.
"So one of them is probably dead and the other one is alive but we don't know which one is dead: Bade Tyagi aka Bharat Tyagi or Chote Tyagi aka Shatrughan Tyagi. At the start of season 3, it's a bleak environment for the Tyagi family and there's grief and a deep sense of revenge.
"In this season, I felt like I had a split personality issue because it's so conflicted. There's a lot of internal conflict in this character, a lot of secrecy. There's a deep-seated revenge and at the same time, longing. It is all coming from the space of a jilted lover," he says.
"I entered the Mirzapur franchise in season 2 and then, the characters were already established. I became a part of the show in a seamless manner. All of them are such wonderful actors who cheer, motivate and support each other. They celebrate each other's success and it's like a big family.
"I had the pleasure of working with Pankaj (Tripathi) sir in Mirzapur and in Murder Mubarak. He is a simple and learned man. Working with him was fun and sitting and talking to him was 2X fun!
"Ali (Fazal), Divyendu, Shweta (Tripathi) and Rasika (Dugal) are actors who have achieved a lot and created a niche for themselves.
"But the biggest character of this show is the fans. We keep this love and admiration very close to our hearts because it doesn't happen that people wait for so long for us to come and tell stories. Keeping that in mind, we have the same level of energy and motivation on the set."
"Today, Ali is known as Guddu Bhaiya... the media, people on the street, everybody, knows him by that name. Divyendu is known as Munna Bhaiya, Pankaj sir as Kaleen Bhaiya, Rasika as Beenaji... to win hearts of millions of people by the characters is a big accomplishment. I also want make such an impact on people that my characters imprint themselves and become unforgettable."
Vijay agrees that OTT has given his career a fresh impetus.
"It gave me a platform and an audience. It also took away the pressure of the box office. I remember when we were trying to figure out the release date of Monsoon Shootout in theatres. A small ad of the movie came in The Times of India next to an ad of a very big film. The producer of Monsoon Shootout worked very hard to buy that small ad.
"So that hierarchy of what is big and small is fluid now because of OTT platforms. If you go to the home screen of such platforms, you can see your film next to any international film, irrespective of how big or small the budget of the movie is.
"So the kind of a democracy that OTT has brought has resulted in a lot of corrections which I have benefited from.
"I have stayed away from typical films. The kind of cinema I like is very similar to the genres available on OTT.
"Until and unless you have an audience, your professional portfolio is static. OTT has given me audiences who have thankfully admired my work and pushed me to do better.
"I am now shooting for Nagraj Manjule's Matka King. It is an Amazon Prime original series. I have done a miniseries with Anubhav Sinha called IC 814 and it's getting ready for release. That will be the next thing after Mirzapur.
"I have done a film with Manish Malhotra's production, Ul Jalool Ishq, with Naseeruddin Shah and Fatima Sana Sheikh. It is now in post-production."
