Vijay Varma has candidly spoken about an uncomfortable experience from the early days of his career, revealing that a casting couch incident during his brief stint in modelling ultimately convinced him to leave the profession and dedicate himself entirely to acting.
Speaking to Prakhar Gupta on his YouTube channel, Vijay reflected on his journey before entering the film industry and shared how stepping into the professional world made him realise that success does not come easily. He said, “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 recalled that while trying his hand at amateur modelling in Hyderabad, he encountered an unpleasant situation with a model coordinator. Sharing the incident, Vijay 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.”
Following the incident, Vijay decided to leave modelling behind and pursue formal acting training. However, the journey came with several setbacks. He revealed that he was initially turned away by Hyderabad's Sutradhar School of Acting. Recalling the rejection, he said, “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.”
His challenges continued when he applied to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Although he reached the final round, he was not selected. Speaking about the experience, Vijay shared, “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.”
Despite the disappointments, Vijay refused to give up. He later secured admission to FTII, where he trained alongside actors Rajkummar Rao and Jaideep Ahlawat. Over the years, he has established himself as one of the industry's acclaimed performers with notable roles in projects including Gully Boy, Darlings, Jaane Jaan, and Lust Stories 2.
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