Vijay Varma says Darlings is the ‘antithesis’ of Kabir Singh, reveals Shah Rukh Khan expressed interest in playing Hamza

He said, “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.”

Reminded that Shah Rukh also played ‘negative characters’ back in the day, Vijay said, “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.”

Directed by Jasmeet K Reen and starring Alia Bhatt in the lead role, Darlings was released on Netflix earlier this months, and registered the highest opening weekend viewership figures for an Indian film on the streamer.