Vijay Varma Recalls His Financial Rough Patch: "There Were Just Rs 18 In My Account"

You must be living under a rock if you have not heard about Vijay Varma's latest Netflix show IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack which released today (August 29). Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the mini-series is based on the hijack of an Indian aircraft by Pakistani militants in 1999. Ahead of the film's release, Vijay appeared on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast on YouTube where he spoke about various aspects of his life. In one segment, the Jaane Jaan star opened up about his “lowest phase” and battling financial constraints. Vijay Varma said, “Woh bohot bura time thha. Bohot hi lowest low thha. 18 rupees account mei thhe aur 2 option thhe khane ke. Yaa toh paani puri kha lu 12 rupees mei 6-8, ya 13 rupees mei 2 idli aayegi. Toh yeh dono mei se 1 choice mujhe lena thha. [It was a very bad time, it was my lowest low. There were just 18 rupees in my account and I had two options for food. I could either eat 6-8 paani puris for Rs 12 or have 2 idlis for 13 rupees. I had to choose any one from the two].”

Despite coming from a well-off family, Vijay Varma revealed that he stopped taking money from his parents. Sharing the reason, the actor said, “Mujhe kisi samjhdar aadmi ne bola ki jab tak tera yeh rent aur basic kharcha aata rahega, tu hilega nahi. Tere andar fire jo hai usko thora sa jalane dae. [A wise man told me ‘As long as your rent and basic expenses keep coming, you will not move. Let the fire inside you burn a little[.”

“2-3 mahine mei haalat aisi ho gayi thhi ki kuch nhi bacha hai. Ussi time pe maine ek chhota sa role bhi kiya thha, jo maine paise ke liye kiya thha aur bohot bura experince raha. [Within 2-3 months the situation became such that there was no money left. At the same time, I also did a small role, which I did for money, and had a very bad experience]. It was probably the lowest,” added Vijay. 

Speaking about IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, the aviation drama also features Pankaj Kapur, Arvind Swami, Kumud Mishra, Naseeruddin Shah, Amrita Puri, Dia Mirza  and Patralekhaa.