Varun Sood: Didn't Have Work For 2 Years After Quitting Reality Shows

Actor and reality TV sensation Varun Sood recently starred in the web series Naam Namak Nishaan, and will soon be seen in Ananya Panday's much-hyped Call Me Bae. The Free Press Journal caught up with the MTV Roadies fame for an exclusive chat wherein he opened up about his foray into showbiz, being an outsider in the industry, challenges he faced, and more. Excerpts:

How was it working with Ananya in Call Me Bae?

Ananya is a fantastic person. She was like this bright light on sets. It's the responsibility of a show's lead to keep the cast and crew together, and she did that very well. Ananya is a great leader, and she made sure everyone felt like a part of one big family. My role too is super fun and it is very different from anything that I've done before.

How would you describe your journey in Bollywood, and now OTT?

It has been a journey of learning and patience. After I decided that I don't want to be part of reality shows anymore, I had no work for two long years. I was not there on screen at all, there was no news about me. That wait taught me a lot. I took a lot of workshops and worked on honing my skills during that time. I knew that if I'm coming back on the screen again, I would like it to be on a bigger scale.

What are the challenges that you faced in this journey?

The biggest challenge was to keep telling myself to work hard and continue improving my craft every day. I didn't know anything about the fiction space. I had no connections in the industry. And I knew it was going to be tough for me mentally to be okay with the fact that I was not working at all. The first few months of this break were great but finding the same motivation every day was not easy.

Did you face setbacks due to being an outsider?

Not really. I was actively auditioning and I got a call for a role in Jug Jugg Jeeyo, which was being made by Dharma Productions. It was a small role but for an outsider like me, it was quite some exposure. Even Call Me Bae is by Dharmatic and in this, I have a very prominent part. I don't think the industry is biased towards outsiders. We get a fair chance too. Obviously, the journey that you have to follow is a little longer, but I think we do get a fair chance.

What kind of roles do you want to take up going ahead?

I definitely want to do a full-fledged role in a Karan Johar movie. He is one of the bests out there. I hope India opens up to a genre of superhero films or action films, as I very much want to be a part of those. I also want to do an out and out comedy film.