2024-09-26 15:29:26
Vijay Verma, who has made his mark in films as well as OTT, is in the news these days for the series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’. But very few people would know that he is also very fond of video games. We talked to him about this:
Highlights
- Interview: I like gaming more than horror movies, I still remember Mario – Vijay Verma
- There were days when I would play continuously for three days and would sleep for just four hours in between- Vijay Verma
- In my childhood, I saw an animation film about dinosaurs in which their whole family struggles to stay alive after a comet arrives – Vijay
Actor Vijay Verma, who is often in the news for his personal and professional life, has been a fan of animation, martial arts and fiction films since childhood. But along with this, he was also very fond of gaming. Due to this, those eight stages of the retro game Mario are still etched in his mind. According to Vijay, he likes gaming more than horror films.
‘I still remember those eight stages of Mario’
Vijay’s passion for gaming has remained since childhood. He says, ‘I am fond of gaming. The famous game Indiana Jones is going to be released in a few months. In my childhood, I saw the Indiana Jones movie with Amrish Puri in the theatre. Recently, Black Myth: Wukong has been released about which I have taken reviews from my friends. I have heard a lot of praise for it, and I want to play it. I do not want to play games like Eden Ring because when I enter them, I die immediately. Apart from playing games, I also like to watch the gameplay. Mario and Contra are my favourite retro games. Even today, I remember all the eight stages of Mario because I started gaming with this. Silent Hill was the one after which I developed a passion for gaming. Earlier, I used to enjoy losing myself only in comics. Later, I found the same fun in gaming. This is a game where there is fog and no one else. In such a place, you are searching for your wife and things are constantly changing. This is very close to alternate reality. Right now, I am able to devote less time to gaming, but there were days when I would play continuously for three days and would sleep for just four hours in between.
‘Zombies games are a favorite’
What kind of characters does Vijay Verma like in games? In response to this question, he says, ‘I like old detective characters, so I like Max Piney games. However, I am more interested in horror gaming. Be it The Last of Us or Resident Evil. I liked the fourth part of Resident Evil the best because it is full of great graphics, gameplay, moment-to-moment fear of zombies and lots of fighting opportunities. Its re-mastered version also came which was a superhit. I find horror in gaming more interesting than films. I like zombie games because in them the world is ending, nothing is left and your player has to collect water, batteries, tools etc. As an actor, the characters of the games also take me to the depths. However, I do not like games like Grand Theft Auto where cars hit each other and your player kills anyone.’
‘I have been a fan of Ajooba and Hatim Tai’
Vijay also talked about his favourite childhood movies. He said, ‘There are some movies in my life which inspired me a lot. In my childhood, I saw an animation movie of dinosaurs in which the whole family struggles to survive after a comet arrives. I remember I was crying after watching that movie. At that time, I must have been about six-seven years old and a VCR had just come home. Another movie is Sadma, after watching which I laughed a lot and also cried. In childhood, you like such bubbly characters. At the end of the movie, when Sridevi refused to recognize Kamal Haasan, my heart broke after watching it. I was nervous after seeing Silk Smitha in it, wondering who she was. For a while, she seemed like a villain to me. By the way, there was a craze for Hollywood movies in my house, especially martial arts movies, because my father was a big fan of Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan. I was very fond of animation, martial arts, fantasy movies. Then when movies like Ajoobaa came, I felt that this is a solid movie from our place. I also like Hatim Tai very much.
‘Whatever I did, it wouldn’t be released’
Vijay also recalled his days of struggle in Bollywood. He said, ‘My struggle lasted for many years. I came to Mumbai but was restless to work. Getting work was the only big thing because there was no way to return. At that time there were no streaming platforms and I did not want to do TV. I used to do theatre and hoped that someone would call me after seeing it. I did Monsoon Shootout, which went to Cannes but despite that no one recognized me. The learning was that I had the lead role in this film and no one would give me a lead role again, this thought kept going on in my mind. During that time the film Pink came. In between, I did films with Tigmanshu Dhulia for four-five years, they did not release on time. I used to do work that did not come out. Pink was the first film that was shot in March-April and released in September. Actually I had seen that the film which I shot in 2010 did not come out till 2017. During that time I controlled myself because there were some emotions and issues inside me, which I was not able to see. I ran away from home to do something and I was not able to do it. It was creating a feeling of suffocation, from which I had to save myself. If you look at it, the struggle in my career reduced after Gully Boy.
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