Vijay Varma has a knack of playing negative – almost creepy – characters. Be it Darlings, Dahaad, or even Lust Stories 2, the actor has won applause for his negative characters. So fans were surprised pleasantly when they saw in a good cop avatar in the trailer of his upcoming show Kaalkoot. In an exclusive conversation with DNA, the actor opened up about his role, breaking type, and his journey so far.
This is Vijay’s third release in this year after Dahaad and Lust Stories 2. There has been one Vijay Varma title on OTT every month this summer. Point this out to him and Vijay laughs. But he is grateful for this work, “I have seen that time too when I didn’t get any work for one year. But it’s been steady. Like I remember in 2021, I had one release. In 2022, I had one more. Now, in 2023, I have two releases already and this is the third one. I am just happy that some good work came out this year and it received so much love.”
In Kaalkoot, Vijay plays a police officer in a small town who is balancing a personal loss with the demands of his work. Calling it his massiest work yet, the actor says, “I am happy Kaalkoot is releasing on such a platform (Jio Cinema) that will enable to reah every household for free. A large number of people can watch it. When I read the story, I knew that this is the massiest thing I have done. This is a story that should reach everyone. I am glad it is coming on a platform that will make sure it does.”
There are two things that drew Vijay to this project and this role. The first, of course, was playing a good guy for a change. “The show is well-researched, well thought-out cop drama. I was glad that I was on the good side this time,” says the actor with a laugh, before adding, “This is, from my understanding, a very humanised police officer in a way that we see him fail completely at the job, as per his standards. How he discovers that this job requires you to be a certain kind of a man...it’s a commentary on how a man should be or what is a man.”
Then, his character is of a reluctant police officer who is hell-bent on resigning, a far cry from the confident macho cops we are used to seeing on screen. “The character drew me the most because till date we haven’t seen such a story of a police officer who is resigning within three months because he believes he can’t do this work. It’s the story of a police officer who thinks he is unfit for the job. It starts there. In the middle of all of this, he gets sucked into a case that transforms him. So, it’s the making of a police officer, which, I feel is a unique take on police.”
The case, Vijay refers to, is an acid attack. The show deals with the sensitive subject in depth, the actor says, giving a social commentary on what makes an acid attacker. He elaborates “What is the reason behind an acid attack? Who is responsible when a man throws acid on a woman apart from just that man? When you try to understand that, you see the entitlement, privilege, patriarchy, judgements against women and how all these play a role in this. Throwing acid is just an action but there are many reasons behind it. What we have tried to do in eight episodes is to try and understand the reason why this happens. It’s not just about one crazy man who can’t tolerate no.”
Kaalkoot, written and directed by Sumit Saxena, also stars Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Seema Biswas, and Gopal Datt in key roles. It releases on Jio Cinema on July 27.
