Vinay Varma

Vinay Varma is an Indian actor, script writer, and casting director who primarily works in Telugu and Hindi-language films.

Vinay Varma
Born	Hyderabad, India
Occupation(s)	Actor, scriptwriter, casting director
Website	www.vinayvarma.in

Career

Vinay Varma, founder of Sutradhar, started out as an amateur theatre practitioner. He has been involved with theatre for more than 40 years. He has also been a part of more than 40 feature films in Telugu and Hindi, in addition to one Hollywood film.^[1]

He started his theater career with the play Coffee House Mein Intezar written by Dr. Laxminarayan Lal. Varma left his banking job to pursue acting.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

He has directed over 45 plays and has acted in more than 50 with over 200 shows across India and abroad. Some of his performances include Natasamrat, Raktbeej,^[7] Main Rahi Masoom,^[8] Siyaah Haashiye, Stronger Than Superman, Main Nathuram Godse, Death Watch, Kanjoos Makkhi Choose,^[9] David Mamet's Oleanna.^[10][11] His play Main Rahi Masoom is based on the life of writer Dr Rahi Masoom Raza. Besides Hyderabad, Main Rahi Masoom has been performed in Kala Ghoda Arts Festival – Mumbai, 3rd Minerva National Theatre Festival – Kolkata, Pratyay Theatre Festival – Kolhapur, 12th Bharath Rang Mahotsav – New Delhi, 22nd National Drama Festival – Allahabad, 8th World Theatre Olympics-Chandigarh, Film and Television Institute of India-Pune. It was also performed in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bengaluru etc. Vinay Varma was also invited by the Society of Friends International, London, to stage Main Rahi Masoom.^[12] On 2 March 2018, Main Rahi Masoom celebrated its 50th show, at Ravindra Bharathi, Hyderabad, India. He directed Sutradhar's debut Marathi play, Passwala. It premiered on World Theatre Day 2024 in Hyderabad. Passwala brings to life Jayant Pawar's (senior journalist & playwright) dialogue with a crematorium keeper in Worli, Mumbai.^[13]

As a Theatre Director, some of his well-known plays are:

• John Pielmeier's Agnes of God.^[14]
• Dr. C.H. Phansalkar's Isosceles Triangle.
• Birjees Qadar Ka Kunba, an Urdu adaptation of The House of Bernarda Alba.^[15]
• Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate.^[16]
• Badal Sarkar's Ballabhpur ki Roopkatha
• Dr. Shanker Shesh's Raktbeej.
• Dr. Shanker Shesh's Phandi.
• Dr. Prem Janmejai's Sita Apaharan Case.
• Sagar Sarhadi's Kisi Seema Ki Ek Mamooli Si Ghatna.
• Surendra Verma's Maranoparant.^[17]
• Neem Hakim Khatar e Jaan, a Hyderabadi adaptation of Le Médecin malgré lui.^[18]
• Saadat Hasan Manto's Siyaah Haashiye (co-directed with Deepti Girotra).^[19]
• Ismat Chughtai's Ismat – Ek Aurat.^[20]
• Gandhi Ambedkar and Main Nathuram Godse (co-directed with Prof. Bhasker Shewalker)
• Mah Laqa Bai Chanda, based on the life of Mah Laqa Bai, an 18th-century Urdu poet and the first woman to have a diwan (anthology) of her work.^[21]
• Kanjoos Makkhi Choose, a Hyderabadi adaptation of The Miser.^[22]
• Nirmal Verma's Weekend.^[23]
• Dushala ^[24]

Workshops

Varma has been conducting Acting, Voice, and Body Language Workshops at Sutradhar since 1999, and has identified and trained more than a hundred talents. Actors trained by him include Vijay Varma,^[25] Sree Vishnu, Aditi Sharma (Ahana of Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki), Vijay Deverakonda,^[26] Anand Deverakonda,^[27] and Aberaam Varma.

Theatre

	Play	Language	Actor/Director	Notes
1	Aarop	Hindi	Actor	Written by Suresh Khare, adapted by Anant Kulkarni
2	Bitter Chocolate	Hindi/English/Hyderabadi	Actor/Director	Based on Pinki Virani's book 'Bitter Chocolate'
3	Bus Stop	Marathi	Actor	A workshop production
4	Deathwatch	Hindi	Actor
5	Four Dimensions	Hindi/English	Actor/Director	A collage of 4 short plays – 'Gandhaari', Pieces from Dharamvir Bharati’s 'Andha Yug', Benjamin Franklin’s 'The Trial of Polly Baker', Syed Junaidullah’s 'Death of Poem', Nathuram Godse’s Monologue 'An Assassin Speaks'
6	Gadha Ya Aadmi	Hindi		Voice-over for a leather puppetry show
7	Gandhi Ambedkar	Hindi	Actor/Co-Director	Written by Dr. Premanand Gajvi
8	Godse – An Assassin speaks	Hindi/English	Actor/Co-Director	Nathuram Godse’s Monologue
9	Good Bye Swami	Hindi	Actor	Written by Susheel Kumar Singh. Joint direction with Prof. Bhasker Shewalkar.
10	Inspector Matadeen Chand Par	Hindi	Actor	Written by Harishankar Parsai. Joint direction with Prof. Bhasker Shewalkar.
11	Isosceles Triangle	English	Actor/Director	Written by Dr. C.H. Phansalkar
12	Jaal – Dramatised play reading	Hindi	Actor/Director	Written by Annie Zaidi (writer)
13	Kissa Karodimal Ki Laash Ka	Deccani/Hyderabadi	Actor/Director	Diwakar Babu’s Telugu play “Kundeti Kommu" adapted and translated by Anant Kulkarni
14	Kanjoos Makkhi Choose	Deccani/Hyderabadi	Actor/Director	Adaptation of Molière's The Miser
15	Main Nathuram Godse	Hindi	Actor/Co-Director	Pradeep Dalvi’s Marathi play “Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy” translated in Hindi by Shanta Kulkarni
16	Main Rahi Masoom	Hindi/Urdu	Actor	Based on the life of Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza
17	Maranoparant	Hindi	Actor/Director	Written by Surendra Verma
18	Natasamrat	Hindi	Actor	Written by Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar Kusumagraj
19	Neem Hakim Khatar e Jaan	Hindi	Actor/Director	An adaptation of Molière’s “Physician In Spite Of Himself” Le Médecin malgré lui
20	Oleanna	English	Actor	Written by David Mamet
21	On Vacation	English	Actor/Director	Written by Sachin Kundalkar
22	Pushp	Hindi	Actor	Directed by Dr. Rammohan Holagundi for NishumbitaTheatre Festival
23	Raktbeej	Hindi	Actor/Director	Written by Dr. Shanker Shesh
24	Room No 13 Block No 14	Hindi	Actor	Written by Srikanth Sinkar
25	Saiyyan Bhaye Kotwal	Hindi	Actor/Director	Vasant Sabnis famous Marathi folk play "Vichha Majhi Poori Kara”, translated by Usha Banerjee
26	Shanivaar ke 2 Baje	Hindi	Actor	Written by Surendra Verma
27	Sita Apaharan Case	Hindi	Actor/Director	Written by Dr. Prem Janmejay
28	Siyaah Haashiye	Urdu	Actor/Director	Based on a collection of 40 short stories by Saadat Hasan Manto
29	Stronger Than Superman	Hindi	Actor	Written by Roy Kift, adapted by Anant Kulkarni
30	The Stronger	Hindi/English	Director	Written by August Strindberg
31	Voids, Spaces & Borders	Hindi/English	Actor/Director	A collection of 3 short performances. Theo Lesoualch’s ‘Dramatic Space’, Sagar Sarhadi’s 'Kisi Seema ki Ek Mamooli si Ghatna', Shivani Tibrewala’s 'Avoid the Void'
32	Andhere Mein [28]	Hindi	Actor/Director	Partap Sehgal’s Indian adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s “Black Comedy”. Sponsored by Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.
33	Weekend [29]	Hindi	Director	Written by Nirmal Verma
34	Abbey! Em Ledhu [30]	Telugu	Director	Written by Sankaramanchi Parthasarathy
35	Aadhi Raat Ke Baad [31][32][33]	Hindi	Director	Written by Dr.Shanker Shesh
36	Dushala [34]	Hindi/Bengali	Director	Written by Pritham K. Chakravarthy
37	Passwala [35]	Marathi	Director	Representation of Jayant Pawar’s conversation with a crematorium keeper
38	Ek Se Badhkar Ek	Hindi	Actor	Adapted from Sankaramanchi Parthasarathy "Abbey Em Ledhu"
39	Five	English	Actor	Written by Shreekumar Varma and directed by Ajit Chitturi for Thespian en, Chennai – 2017)
40	Jungle Book	English	Actor	Directed by Vaishali Bisht for Children’s Theatre and Film Festival
41	Prastaav	Hindi	Actor/Director	Anton Chekhov’s “The Proposal” adapted in Hindi by Anant Kulkarni
42	Krapp ke Antim Shabd	Hindi	Actor	Based on Samuel Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tapes" - a 70-minute monologue translated by Vijay Ahluwalia
43	Aage Daudo	Hindi	Actor	Based on Baban Prabhu’s Marathi play “Pala Pala Kon Pudhe Pale To” adapted in Hindi by Anant Kulkarni
44	Guddi Pappu aur Munna	Hindi	Actor	Based on Volker Ludwig’s German Play “Max und Milli” adapted by Anant Kulkarni
45	Langda Ghoda	Hindi	Actor	Written by Kadir Zaman
46	Kaath ka Goda	Hindi	Actor	Written by Manoranjan Das
47	White Rabbit Red Rabbit	Hindi	Actor	Written by Nassim Soleimanpour. An experimental play with no director, no rehearsal, just one actor who is handed the script on stage in front of the audience
48	Flowers	Hindi	Actor	Written by Girish Karnad. Directed by Dr. Ram Mohan Holagundi
49	Uttaraardh	Marathi/Hindi	Director	Written by Vijay Mondke. Translated by Anant Kulkarni.
50	Phandi	Hindi	Actor/Director	Directed for Rangadhara - The Theatre Stream. Written by Dr. Shanker Shesh.
51	Ballabhpur ki Roopkatha	Hindi	Actor/Director	Directed for Rangadhara - The Theatre Stream. Written by Badal Sarkar.
52	Kisi ko toh Jaana Hoga	Hindi	Actor/Director	Based on Subhash Parkhi’s Marathi play “Kalpana” translated in Hindi by Anant Kulkarni
53	Raja ka Baaja	Hindi	Actor/Director	Written by Safdar Hashmi.
54	Budh Kaam Shudh	Hindi	Director	Written by I. S. Johar.
55	Hay Mera Dil	Hindi	Director	Written by Ranbir Singh.
56	Kisi Aur ka Sapna	Hindi	Director	Written by Nand Kishore Acharya. Joint direction with Prof. Bhasker Shewalkar.
57	Atmahatya ki Dukaan	Hindi	Director	Written by Asha Varma.
58	Birjees Qadar ka Kunba	Urdu/Hindi	Director	An adaption of Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. Adapted and translated by Dr.Raghuvir Sahay
59	Ismat - Ek Aurat	Urdu/Hindi	Director	A collection of three short stories by Ismat Chughtai.
60	Mah Laqa Bai Chanda	Urdu/Hindi	Director	Written by Dr. Oudhesh Rani Bawa.
61	Aamne - Saamne	Hindi	Actor/Director	Based on two short plays - "The Stronger" by August Strindberg, and "Maranoparant" by Surendra Verma
62	Post Mortem	Hindi	Director	Written by Milind Tikhe
63	Out at Sea	Hindi	Actor/Director	Written by Slawomir Mrozek
64	Agnes of God	Hindi/English	Director	Written by John Pielmeier
65	Sita Soorpanakha	Hindi	Director	Written by Shivani Tibrewala
66	Touch	Hindi	Director	Written by Smita Nirula
67	Teen Apahij	Hindi	Director	Written by Vipin Agarwal. Joint direction with Prof. Bhasker Shewalkar.
68	The Phoenix	Hindi	Director	Written by Abhijit Sircar. Joint direction with Prof. Bhasker Shewalkar.
69	Andhon ka Haathi	Hindi	Director	Written by Sharad Joshi. Joint direction with Prof. Bhasker Shewalkar.
70	Interview	Hindi	Actor	Written and directed by Dr. D. K. Goel.
71	Mahatma	Hindi	Actor	Written and directed by Lingam Pandu Pradeep.
72	Tambe ke Keede	Hindi	Actor	Written by Bhuvaneshwar Prasad and directed by Venugopal.
73	Aage Aage Premchand, Peeche Peeche Hum	Hindi	Actor	As part of the centenary celebrations for Munshi Premchand. Directed by Venugopal.
74	Cyclewalla	Hindi	Actor	Directed by Venugopal.
75	Brecht ke Laghu Natak	Hindi	Actor	Adapted from Bertolt Brecht's short plays. Directed by Venugopal.
76	Coffee House Mein Intezaar	Hindi	Actor	Directed by Dr. D.K.Goel.

Filmography

Telugu films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Love	Pakistani terrorist
2002	Nee Thodu Kavali	Manasa's father
2004	Tapana	Siddhu's father
2005	Danger	Tantrik
2006	Veedhi	Sivanna
2009	Ninnu Kalisaka	Father of heroine[clarification needed]
2012	Nippu	Police Commissioner of Dubai
	Ko Antey Koti	Inspector Ranjit Kumar
	Dream	Doctor
2014	Anaamika	DCP Ravi Chandra
2016	Gentleman	David
	Terror	DCP V. Rathod
	Zindagi
2018	Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava	Timma Reddy
	Idam Jagath	Police Commissioner Vikram Simha
2019	Evaru	Banerjee
	George Reddy	Minister Ramayya
	Meeku Maathrame Cheptha	Uncle
	Dorasaani	Raja Reddy
	Boy
2020	V	Saadik Haasan
	IIT Krishnamurthy	ACP Vinay Varma
2021	Zombie Reddy	Bhooma Reddy
	Naandhi	Nagendra
	Aakashavaani	Dora
	Drushyam 2	CI J. Prathap
2023	Waltair Veerayya	Police SP
	Meter	DGP Dileep Raavath
	Music School	Govind Rao Bhaskar Rao Kulkarni	Also co-wrote dialogue and casting director
	Aadikeshava	Vijay Mohan
2024	Dhoom Dhaam	Narendra Bhoopathi

Hindi films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Tu Hi Meri Ganga	Loknath
2002	16 December	Home Minister Shiv Charan Shukla
2004	Rudraksh	Mantrik
2008	Mukhbiir	Ismail
2010	Knock Out	Police Commissioner
2011	Laadli Laila (Virgin Goat)	Butcher
2014	Yeh Hai Bakrapur	Singhania
	Bobby Jasoos	Tasawwur's father
2022	Jersey	Major Krishna Rao
2023	Music School	Govind Rao Bhaskar Rao Kulkarni	Also co-wrote dialogue and casting director
2024	Fighter	Debyajyoti Biswas "Debu"

English film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Beeper	Tiger	A Hollywood production

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Platform	Language	Ref.
2019	Sacred Games	NSA	Netflix	Hindi
2020	A Simple Murder	Politician Pran Dawas	Sony Liv	Hindi	[36]
2021	Game	Organ racketeer	Hotstar	Telugu
2022	Qubool Hai?	Rafique Pehelwan	aha	Hyderabadi, Telugu	[37]

Television

	Name	Language	Actor/Director	Role	Notes
1	Ek Kahani (Atmahatya) Ek Kahani (Narsayya ki Baodi)	Hindi	Actor	Chiranjeevi & Bank loan broker	Two Seasons - 1985 & 1989. On DD National.
2	Dharti Bane Phulwari	Hindi	Actor		DD National
3	Dayasagar	Hindi	Actor	Judas Iscariot	DD National
4	Shraddha	Hindi	Actor	Played a writer. Husband of Rama Vij	DD National. Also wrote dialogues for all the episodes.
5	Bala	Urdu	Actor	Muazzam (lecherous son of Aurangazeb.	DD National.
6	Manushulu – Mamathalu	Telugu	Actor		DD National
7	Madhavi	Telugu	Actor	Antagonist - Jaswant Rao	DD National
8	Peter the 2	Hindi	Actor	Antagonist	Telefilm. DD National.
9	Daanav Hunters	Hindi	Actor	Lankeshwar	Epic Channel
10	Naghme ka Safar	Hindi	Actor	Doctor	DD National
11	Main Phir Janma Hoon	Hindi	Actor	Barabbas	Telefilm. DD National.

Dubbing artist

• Rahul Dev - Akasa Veedhilo
• Tinu Anand - Anji
• Nassar - Okkadunnadu
• Panchatantra Stories on CVS ^[38]
• Raj Arjun - Dear Comrade
• Ilavarasu - Donga

References

1. "Guftagoo with Vinay Varma". Rajya Sabha TV. 21 April 2018.
2. "All About Theatre". The Hindu. 25 August 2017.
3. "Honour for Vinay". The Hindu. 9 January 2013.
4. "Being Rahi Masoom Raza". The Hindu. 27 April 2017.
5. "Living on the edge with passion". The Hindu. 15 January 2010.
6. "Interview With Vinay Varma Interview : www.MumbaiTheatreGuide.com". www.mumbaitheatreguide.com.
7. "Raktbeej Reality Bites". Deccan Chronicle. 14 July 2016.
8. "Solemn soliloquy: Vinay Varma on playing Rahi Masoom Raza". Indulge Express. 28 April 2017.
9. Ramakrishna, Lakshmi (28 March 2017). "'Kanjoos Makhi Choose': The miser and his miseries". The Hindu.
10. "A Valiant Showcase". Deccan Chronicle. 23 March 2018.
11. "Sutradhar's Oleanna — A Reflection On Academic Power Play". Times of India. 25 March 2018.
12. "Hyderabad's play Main Rahi Masoom goes global". 25 June 2014.
13. "A glimpse of life vis-a-vis death". 21 March 2024.
14. "A big win for city". Deccan Chronicle. 11 October 2015.
15. "Women on top". The Hindu. 26 August 2012.
16. "Bitter truth". The Hindu. 25 June 2015.
17. "MARANOPARANT". Mera Event.
18. "College Day Celebration". Nav Bharat Times.
19. "On a seriously satire note". The Hindu. 31 March 2011.
20. "Insightful monologues". The Hindu. 9 October 2014.
21. "A tale worthy to be told". Telangana Today.
22. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (22 March 2017). "Greed knows no bounds". The Hindu.
23. "Sutradhar presents Weekend". Book My Show.
24. "Dushala's unspoken truth". 7 November 2023.
25. "I'm in safe hands". New Indian Express. 19 December 2017.
26. "Interview with Vijay Devarakonda". telugu360. 15 August 2016.
27. "Dorasani Actor Vinay Varma About Anand Devarakonda | Vinay Varma Interview | Friday Poster". YouTube. 14 July 2019.
28. Sripada, Krishna (6 August 2019). "'Andhere Mein' : A dark comedy, quite literally!". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
29. "Sutradhar presents 'Weekend' Hindi theatre-plays Play in Hyderabad Tickets".
30. "Make way for some Slapstick comedy". www.newindianexpress.com. 11 November 2021.
31. "Theatre stands tall: Thespian Vinay Varma". 25 March 2022 – via The New Indian Express.
32. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (24 March 2022). "In Hyderabad, Nishumbita and Sutradhar's special productions for World Theatre Day". The Hindu.
33. "Aadhi Raat Ke Baad: Judge, robber and noisy neighbour". Archived from the original on 30 March 2023 – via Deccan Chronicle.
34. "Dushala's unspoken truth". 7 November 2023.
35. "A glimpse of life vis-a-vis death". 21 March 2024.
36. "A Simple Murder Review – A highly entertaining comedy series | klapboardpost". 21 November 2020.
37. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (14 March 2022). "'Qubool Hai' web series review: The Telugu-Dakhani series scores on some fronts and engages partially". The Hindu.
38. "Panchatantra Hindi Animation Stories". YouTube. 7 February 2012.

External links

• Personal website