Vijay Varma said THIS to Reema Kagti before agreeing to play a murder suspect in Dahaad

Before he agreed to play a murder suspect in Reema Kagti's crime show "Dahaad", actor Vijay Varma says he made director promise that she would cast him in a "nice guy" role in a future project.

Be it a street thug in "Gully Boy", an abusive husband in "Darlings" or a gangster in "She", Hyderabad-born actor has made a career out of playing flawed men.

In "Dahaad", he essays Anand, a school teacher suspected of a series of murders.

"I was drawn to script and I couldn't put it down. I read eight episodes in a day-and-a-half. It is a delicious part and I am a very greedy actor," Varma told PTI in an interview here.

actor said he doesn't kw why filmmakers approach him for roles with grey shades.

"When se characters come to me, I am like, ‘Why don’t you go to someone else with se characters?’ When Reema gave me this character, I said, ‘I will do this, but next time give me a nice guy (role)’. She said, ‘First do this’,” he recalled.

“Dahaad”, co-created by Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, is set in a small, sleepy town in Rajasthan. story revolves around Anjali Bhaati (Sonakshi Sinha), a sub-inspector, who along with her colleagues, tries to solve a gruesome murder case with an unsuspecting criminal on loose. Kagti also directs eight-episode series with Ruchika Oberoi.

Playing Anand was a "taxing" experience for Varma, who credited his co-stars for making him feel loved after wrapping day.

"I was surrounded by people who absolutely loved me on sets. When we finished our work, we would all find a common place, where we would sit, chat, sing, dance, play soker, perform, and do all kinds of activities.

"I started to learn how to unwind when days were slightly (hard)... We had a lockdown situation after one schedule, and n we resumed work. So, I had to keep some part of story and character with me for an extended period of time. That was a bit taxing," 37-year-old actor added.

To prepare for role, Varma said though he watched a lot of crime drama shows, he treated script as his bible.

"It is one of scripts, where barely anybody said anything outside of it. It was all re on paper. I just had to own part and t be afraid to commit," he added.

actor said he relied on directors Kagti and Oberoi to determine wher or t he had successfully captured nuances of his character.

"re is a disconnect, a complete lack of empathy, maybe zero conscience... characteristic of a psychopath. So, when you try to play that, you have to disconnect with feelings you have. As actors, we rely on feelings, here we had to disconnect. That took a bit of exercise," Varma said.

Also featuring Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah, “Dahaad” will start streaming on Prime Video starting Friday. series is produced by Excel Media & Entertainment and Tiger Baby, with Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Kagti, and Zoya Akhtar as executive producers.