I’m not competitive, says Vijay Varma

Mumbai, Nov 29 (PTI) In an industry often overshadowed by rivalry and the pressure to outperform, actor Vijay Varma says he doesn’t believe in being competitive, especially in the field of performing arts.

The actor has made a mark in the industry with his performances in films such as “Pink”, “Gully Boy”, “Darlings”, “Jaane Jaan” as well as the show “Dahaad”, among others.

“I’ve never been competitive as a person, not even as a kid. Competitiveness is ingrained as being masculine and alpha. That word is associated with leaders and achievers. I’ve never felt competitive in my entire life. Even as a kid I’ve participated in many things and I was happy to compete in several things.

"Even when I would play some games with my friends, my goal was to have a good time and I was never bothered about winning and losing. There’s no winning or losing in arts, it's not the Olympics. I feel I have my own journey, I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing. Main kabhi avval nahi hoga (I’ll never be first),” Varma said on day one of IFP Season 15, the multi-disciplinary creative festival being held at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios.

“Okay Computer” is one of my best works, the actor said, adding, “It’s a sci-fi comedy, it’s an interesting movie featuring me, Radhika Apte and Jackie Shroff.” Varma’s latest film is “Gustaakh Ishq”, in which he plays a budding poet who falls for his teacher's daughter, essayed by Fatima Sana Shaikh. It is directed by Vibhu Puri and produced by fashion designer Manish Malhotra.

For the actor, one of the “best and amazing things” about the film was working with veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah.

“Have you heard him? It sounds like God is talking to you directly. He has got that baritone, that voice that comes from somewhere else. It sounds like the voice of the universe. Like Morgan Freeman is the voice of God in Hollywood, and we’ve Naseeruddin Shah as the voice of God,” Varma said.

“His grip over the languages, Hindi, Urdu, English, Punjabi, and Parsi... he is so good with so many different dialects. He is an institution. So, just being around him, looking at him working, is an experience. I’ve had two profound experiences. One was with Mr Bachchan when I was shooting ‘Pink’, another one was with Naseer Sir. It's amazing to just look at them,” he added.

Sharing similar sentiments, his co-star Shaikh referred to Shah as a “teacher” and recalled how he helped her understand the importance of “living in the moment” as artists.

was like I hope he doesn’t think I’m a bad actor. I was very worried he’d judge me. There was this one scene where I had to cry, and he did something really small, but it changed the whole moment.

He placed my hand on his pulse so I could feel the heartbeat, basically telling me to be in the moment. What really empowered me was Naseer Sir saying, ‘It’s okay. Feel it. You don’t have to hit those beats perfectly’.” Both Varma and Shaikh said the on-screen romantic chemistry between them stems from their friendship.

e are like friends. We would laugh a lot in between scenes. We share great friendship, there’s warmth and if there’s friendship then it becomes easy,” Shaikh said.

Chemistry is nothing but good friendship, people think chemistry is a different kind of energy. It’s about two people knowing and accepting each other. For me humour was the strong connection with her,” Varma said, adding, he admires Shaikh’s film choices. PTI KK P ATR ATR