ABHAY VERMA THE BREAKTHROUGH STAR

2024 was definitely the year of this 27-year-old actor hailing from Panipat, Haryana. Munjya, which saw him play the lead opposite Sharvari Wagh, has turned out to be a sleeper hit, and no one is complaining

- ANANYA GHOSH

Abhay Verma shifted to Mumbai in 2018 to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Starting off as a junior artiste in Super 30, today he has finally arrived. There is no denying the fact that if there is one actor who can be called the breakthrough star of 2024, it is this 27-year-old. He played the lead in Maddock Films' horror-comedy Munjya, which opened to a box office collection of approximately Rs 4 crore on its first day and eventually became the first mid-budget Bollywood movie of 2024 to reach the Rs 100 crore net mark. Although Abhay had made a rather gutsy film debut in 2023 as a transgender in Safed and made quite an impression with his portrayal of Kalyan, a grey character, in the Manoj Bajpayee-led 2021 webseries, The Family Man 2, Munjya's success has made him a star overnight, quite literally. "Every day, I would put some malai face pack that my mom makes and go downstairs to get vegetables. The morning after Munjya hit the theatres, I did the same. Only this time, two girls passing by actually stopped and did a double-take. Then a guy stopped me and asked for a selfie—jab aap selfie dene lag jate ho toh samajh lo aap famous ho chuke ho!" quips Abhay as we sit down for a tete-a-tete. The actor, known for his signature mop of curly hair, has had a trim recently and is looking even younger, if a bit less Abhay Vermaish.

According to him, he was not a 'filmy bachcha' spouting Bollywood dialogues, standing in front of the mirror while growing up, "I was a very naughty guy throughout, now I have toned down a bit as the world needs more sophistication from me than I would want. But yeah, I was that kid who would be pushed to dance or perform at family gatherings. My sister once dressed me in a frock! I was a nautanki, perfect timepass material," grins Abhay.