Overview

• Malik credits Ram Gopal Varma with proving that actors need not fit conventional physique ideals to succeed in Bollywood.
• He recalls aspiring talent queuing outside Varma’s Factory studio in hopes of being cast for their average looks and genuine ability.
• The actor traces the inclusive-casting legacy from Varma’s early 2000s work to Anurag Kashyap’s landmark 2012 film Gangs of Wasseypur.
• Malik depicts Kashyap as honest, quirky and deeply invested in cinema, prone to passionate outbursts whenever his creative vision is compromised.
• The pandemic hit series Panchayat exemplifies how audiences have embraced authenticity and non-glamorous casting championed by both directors.