Vijay Varma reveals he took up Hamza because SRK showed his interest in the role

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Darlings and Vijay Varma, both shined brightly upon their release. But Vijay, who plays a grey character in the film was initially sceptical about playing a negative role that would become a subject of public hatred. But it was the assurance of Shah Rukh Khan’s interest in the role that made the actor take it up.

Vijay plays the role of Hamza, Alia Bhatt’s drunkard and abusive husband who is then brutalized by his wife the same way that he did to her. The actor revealed that Shah Rukh Khan had shown his interest in playing the role and would have even taken up the offer if he was younger. Talking to Film Companion, Vijay revealed, “I remember somebody from Red Chillies had told me that when Shah Rukh sir read the script, he was like 'agar main young hota toh ye role main hi karta (If I was younger, I only would've done this role)', which was interesting for me to hear. That was also one of the reasons I felt like I can do this role, because if Shah Rukh Khan thinks that he can do this role, being an absolute lover-boy, national sweetheart. I was scared to take up a role like this but I am very glad that it hit the nail in the right place.”

Darlings starring Alia Bhatt, Vijay Varma, Shefali Shah and Roshan Matthew was produced by Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.

Shah Rukh Khan has previously played negative characters which are considered some of the best performances by the actor. In Baazigar, he portrayed the role of a revenge-hungry son who seeks vengeance for his father’s death by killing the daughters of the murderer. Then came Darr in which he became the obsessive one-sided lover who goes to dangerous lengths to obtain the girl of his dreams. He also portrayed an evil gangster in Duplicate and that was all to his character there.