Dahaad actor Vijay Varma: No stylists wanted to dress me for my Cannes debut in 2013; I looked like a ‘Marwari Johnny Depp’

Basking in the ‘thunderous’ response for his negative character in Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s crime-mystery-thriller web series Dahaad, actor Vijay Varma recently checked into the French Riviera for his Cannes 2023 appearance. This, however, isn’t the first time that the Darlings actor attended the coveted film festival that draws global attention every year. He was there at the venue in 2013 when his first film as a lead character - neo-noir action thriller Monsoon Shootout - premiered. Ironically though, no stylist was keen on dressing him for his red carpet debut at Cannes. Why? Because he was not that famous in Bollywood back then, the actor said in a recent interview.      

Vijay - who is also known for his performance in Pink, Gully Boy, Baaghi 3 and Mirzapur - told Film Companion, “When I came here, I bought one jacket from Zara, which I could afford. But for the main event, for two events, they said you have to wear the whole suit. And I went to people, saying, ‘Can some designer come, can some stylist help me out?’ And they said, ‘Who’s Vijay Varma? We don’t want to dress anybody’.”

Adding to that, he said, “So, a friend of mine gifted me a Zara suit, which I wore for the morning photo call. And somebody stitched me a tuxedo for the red carpet. That's how I went. When I saw the pictures, they came out on Getty Images and all these places, which I didn’t have money to buy from.” 

Also read: Dahaad actor Vijay Varma reveals who inspired him to play grey characters

Vijay thought he looked fine, as he had never been part of such an event before. “Now, when he looks at those pictures again, it gives the resemblance of a ‘Marwari Johnny Depp’,” the actor said jokingly. 

In Dahaad - which also stars Sonakshi Sinha and Gulshan Devaiah - Vijay plays the role of a serial killer in Rajasthan, who targets young women from lower castes and manipulates them by making them fall in love with him, before he murders them.

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