Enough of embracing dark and intense characters — be it in Darlings (2022), Jaane Jaan (2023), or Dahaad (2023). Now, Vijay Varma is in the mood for love. The actor attempts his first love story with director Vibhu Puri’s Gustaakh Ishq, opposite Fatima Sana Shaikh. To the audience, his switch from brooding characters to a lover boy may seem like an aberration. But to Varma, it feels natural.

“I wasn’t surprised that Vibhu offered me this part. I came from a stage background, the memories [of being part of romantic dramas] are living within me. When the announcement happened, it looked like an anti-casting because Mirzapur, Dahaad, and Darlings came back-to-back and [gave me] the intense tag. That tag won’t be dropped even with this film,” he says.