Kiwi-Indian actor plays mentor to Chinese boy

Kiwi-Indian actor and voiceover artist Rajeev Varma is thoroughly enjoying being a role model to eight-year-old Chinese boy Martyn for the past seven months.

The 47-year-old has enrolled with Big Buddy, an organisation that endeavours to make a positive difference to children without a father by matching volunteers with boys aged between seven and 14 years.

Varma told The Indian Weekender, “Big Buddy is an amazing programme, and it's certainly helped me as well as my little buddy Martyn immensely. I come from a broken home where there was domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health issues and an ugly divorce involving the court system and restraining orders that left me a damaged little boy. Spending time with Martyn has been healing for me. I have developed a strong bond with him and am introducing him to arts and theatre.”

Varma doesn’t have any children of his own and he enjoys bringing a positive change in Martyn’s life. “I feel compelled to bring as much joy and light into his little life as I possibly can. I can truly say that I love that boy, and I believe that, in and of itself, is what is healing me. It is also my way of giving back to society,” he says.

Varma, best known for playing an Indian dad in ANZ commercials, believes every boy without a father in life is a time bomb waiting to go off in our society. “Every little boy without a father deserves a loving and good male mentor figure, which can go a long way in saving our social fabric. Not having a good father figure is also a reason for many problems in our society including increasing crime,” he says.

Varma studied a diploma in acting from Auckland in 1995, and migrated to the US in 2006. While in New Zealand, he created the country’s first Indo-Asian theatre company, The Untouchables Collective. He and his wife moved back to New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic. He will be next seen in ‘Raised By Refugees Season Two’ and ‘Miles from Nowhere’.

Varma has appeared on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's ‘Indian Ink’, and played Hasmukh in ‘Brown Nation’ that aired on Netflix. He says as an Indian actor working abroad he faced racism. “I’ve felt othered by Europeans throughout my life. Being an actor working in America, I have experienced white bias, but I have stood up against it. I know the acceptance is increasing, but there is much to be done in this regard,” he says.