90s All the Way: Vijay Varma goes old school in Hurdang!

Known for his standout act in Gully Boy, Vijay Varma continues to remain in top form even with his new stint as well. Acing the part of a 90s college student from Allahabad, Vijay is doing his best to add his own nuances to the character. The actor who is currently working on Hurdang in Prayagraj feels the thrill of working on a period film and though Hurdang isn’t a classic period film, the fact that it’s set in the 90s requires major prep from him, a challenge he has taken up well enough. 

From understanding the social scenario of the era to its very politics, the actor has undergone a makeover after a few rounds of changes. To be era authentic, Vijay has even grown a moustache. Depending on his character requirement and background Vijay decided to have a cleaner look. Vijay went through a series of tests, exchanged notes with the director on how to add his own to his look ensuring that he isn’t authentic to the tee. 

We arrived at the final look after many trials. We wanted to get the milieu right and took references from many real-life personal pictures from the late 80s which the team had gathered for mood boarding. Sheetal Sharma is the designer on this film and we worked closely over many trials to get the vibe of Loha Singh right. Power and leadership are his main trials and we made sure it reflects in the styling.

The script has a lot of answers in explaining the political scenarios of the 1990 and what was the general sense of response by these characters to the times they were living in. Discussions and looking upon history helped in making it more nuanced instead of settling for a uni-dimensional approach to the period.

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Vijay was applauded by Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt for his impeccable performances. Though Ranveer is the hero in Gully Boy, Zoya Akhtar, director of the film, wasn't entirely dependent on the Padmaavat star to shoulder the film.

Zoya had hand-picked her supporting star cast and carefully placed them in their characters. "My character was on the wrong side of the law but Zoya looked at him as a human," says Vijay Varma, who played Ranveer's drug-peddler friend Moeen in the film.