Shah Rukh Khan Wanted to Play Hamza in Darlings, Reveals Vijay Varma; Know Why He Didn't Do It

Vijay Varma played a menacing and abusive husband in Jasmeet.K.Reen’s critically successful black comedy Darlings. Not only did the Gully Boy star get praised for his realistic portrayal, he was also hailed by many for choosing a film that sheds light on domestic abuse in India. In a recent interaction, Vijay Varma revealed that Shah Rukh Khan who co-produced the film with Alia Bhatt showed eagerness to essay the character of Hamza if he was young.

While talking to Film Companion, Vijay Varma disclosed, “I remember somebody had told me that when Shah Rukh read the script, he said, ‘Agar main young hota toh main hi karta (If I was younger, I would’ve done this role)’, which was interesting for me to hear. That was also one of the reasons I felt that I could do this role, if Shah Rukh Khan thinks that he can do this role, being an absolute lover-boy and a sweetheart. Of course, I was scared to take up a role like this, but I’m very glad that it hit the nail on the head."

The Mirzapur actor also discussed how his on-screen character of Hamza was quite similar to Shahid Kapoor’s character in Kabir Singh except the fact that Hamza never elicited empathy from the audience. The actor shared, “For a change, an abusive man is not being idolised by the society. This is what we saw in 80s and 90s cinema." When he was told that people thronged to watch Kabir Singh, Vijay said that Hamza is the ‘antithesis’ of what that film represented.

“It was a different point of view. And the magic lies in the gaze, it’s told by a woman… I feel Jasmeet’s perspective was the correct one and the important one. And that perspective allowed the character to be humanised, but didn’t sugarcoat his monstrosity. We cannot celebrate this behaviour. And also, this is a cause-and-effect world. Therefore, the end of the character."

Apart from garnering rave reviews from fans and cinephiles, Darlings which also starred Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, and Roshan Mathew earned the highest opening weekend viewership figures for an Indian film on the streaming platform.

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