Mumbai, Dec 2 (IANS) Actor Vijay Varma, who has been receiving rave reviews for his performance in the recently released Gustaakh Ishq, spoke about how ace fashion designer-turned-producer Manish Malhotra made his otherwise ‘poor’ character in the movie appear classy and graceful through his styling and costume choices.

Talking to IANS, Vijay revealed how Manish, despite being the producer of the movie, has a primary contribution to the look of his character too. “His contribution was very important because the film is set in a place, a class, and an environment where there are barely any resources,’ said Vijay while talking to IANS.

He further said, “My character in the movie is poor and can barely make ends meet. He is struggling to survive and has no money.” “So I thought the phatichar (broke) would naturally look troubled and worn-out. But since this is a Manish Malhotra production, he decided to present the phatichar (broke) with a certain swag. My character doesn’t have much, but whatever little he owns, he wears with attitude. That’s Manish’s contribution, because he truly understands cinema,” said Vijay.

Talking about Vijay, the actor has, over time, proved himself as an actor par excellence. Varma, who ventured into Bollywood with a negative character, continued to stick to the genre consciously. But with Gustaakh Ishk, Vijay was all set to break through his negative on-screen image and step into the world of old-school romance as a lover boy.

Talking to IANS, the actor also spoke about consciously breaking his image as an antagonist and stepping into the world of love and romance. “It was a break that I wanted from the negative parts because they tend to weigh down on you,” said Vijay while talking to IANS. “I was constantly told by fans, ‘We hated you in that film; we hated you, but you are a brilliant actor.’” So I wanted to get rid of the word “hate” and call it something else. So be it IC-814 or Jaane Jaane or Murder Mubarak or anything else; I just wanted to take a break from that.”

Adding more light on the movie, Vijay said, “It is a sweet, romantic film. It has love, it has worship, it has sin, it has worship! There are a lot of things in it that were there for me to explore as an actor.”

The actor further elaborated on making a conscious shift from portraying negative characters to soft positive ones. “Anything that you do new tends to take a bit of time to adjust to, and it can be difficult. I remember when I was in “Pink”; it was a very dangerously written scene and was a very gruesome scene in the car. Here, in Gustaakh Ishq, I would say that the challenge was to pull off such poetic dialogues and to stand in front of THE Naseeruddin Shah, the legend, and to not shiver, yet manage to be believable, and to convey all the emotions correctly. It was a new challenge! ’

Varma further said, “Whenever you switch or change yourself, it can be a bit challenging. But it’s fun. And then you keep doing it for a while, and then you feel like doing something new. So my next step will be to try to go towards comedy.” Talking about Gustaakh Ishq, the movie is based in the retro era of Delhi and exudes the charm and romance of Old Delhi.

The movie, which along with Vijay, stars Naseeruddin Shah and Fatima Sana Shaikh, was released on November 28. Gustaakh Ishq is produced under fashion designer Manish Malhotra’s new production banner known as Stage5 Production.

–IANS

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