Varma's notable mainstream works in Hindi cinema include "Daud" (1997), "Darna Zaroori Hai" (2006), "Nishabd" (2007), "Darling" (2007), and "Phoonk" (2008). Bollywood film makers such as Anurag Kashyap, Madhur Bhandarkar, Puri Jagannadh, E. Nivas, Prawaal Raman, Krishna Vamsi, Vishram Sawant, and Hansal Mehta assisted Varma, before venturing into direction. In 1993, he scripted the Tamil thriller "Thiruda Thiruda", screened at Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015, Varma was fined for Rs 10 Lakhs, for an alleged copyright violation with the film "Aag" (2007). He made his directorial debut in Kannada cinema with the thriller "Killing Veerappan".