Varma is known for presenting the Indian Political Trilogy, and the Indian Gangster Trilogy; film critic Rajeev Masand had labelled the series as one of the "most influential movies of Hindi cinema". The first installment of the trilogy, "Satya", was also listed in CNN-IBN's 100 greatest Indian films of all time. Varma's recent avant-garde works include hits such as the dramatised re-enactment of "Rayalaseema factionism" in "Rakta Charitra" (2010), the "2008 Mumbai attacks" in "The Attacks of 26/11" (2013), the "Operation Cocoon" in "Killing Veerappan" (2016), and the "Vijayawada riots" in "Vangaveeti" (2016).