Vijay Varma has opened up about an uncomfortable casting couch experience from his early days in the entertainment industry. Looking back at the period before he entered films, the actor recalled an incident during his brief stint as a model. He revealed that it ultimately became the turning point that convinced him to stop exploring other career options and fully commit to acting.
Speaking to Prakhar Gupta on his YouTube channel, Vijay reflected on that phase of his life and explained how the experience went on to reshape his outlook towards both his career and personal ambitions.
“When you’re growing up, you’re entitled in a way. Your parents are there, your family is there, everything is taken care of. You get what you want. Eventually, you get what you want. But then you realize that in the outside world, it’s not easy to get what you want, whether it’s getting a seat in a college or getting to do what you feel like doing,” the actor said,
That realisation, Vijay said, came much before he became a familiar face in films. At the time, Vijay was trying his hand at modelling in Hyderabad. What started as a small opportunity soon turned into an unpleasant experience.
“I Got Discouraged Immediately”
Recalling the incident, Vijay Varma said, “I tried modelling in Hyderabad, just small-time, amateur-level work. But I came across this weird model coordinator. He started to misbehave with me a little bit, like just trying to get a little touchy-feely. I said, ‘Bro, what is this? What are you doing?’ So I got discouraged immediately. You get discouraged very quickly when you’re still inexperienced. Then I thought, I think I should address it head-on. If acting is what I want to do, then I have to do it.”
Instead of continuing with modelling, Vijay decided to focus all his attention on acting. But getting there was far from easy.
His first attempt was at Hyderabad’s Sutradhar School of Acting. However, he said he was turned away before he could even prove himself.
“So I went to a theatre school in Hyderabad called Sutradhar School of Acting. I told them, ‘I want to learn acting.’ But they turned me away. They said, ‘It requires commitment, it requires dedication. This isn’t something you’ll do for two days and then leave.’ I thought, they’re not even giving me a chance.”
That wasn’t the only setback. Vijay also applied to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), but despite reaching the final round, he could not secure admission.
“Then I applied to FTII. I found out they had a two-year acting course. I applied, made it to the final round, and got rejected. And for the first time, I realised that your dreams aren’t entirely in your hands. It’s not like you want something and you automatically get it. You don’t.”
The rejection did not stop him from trying again. Vijay later returned to FTII and was accepted into its acting programme. He went on to study alongside Rajkummar Rao and Jaideep Ahlawat before building a career that has seen him deliver memorable performances across films and web series such as Lust, Stories 2, Darlings, Jaane Jaan, and Gully Boy.
