[3] He made his debut as a cinematographer with Jalamarmaram (1999) and gained attention with Jayaraj’s Malayalam film Shantham (2001), earning the 23rd EMI Third Continent Award for Best Cinematography.

[3] He later worked in the Telugu film Jai and received more offers in Hindi, such as Armaan, Bee Busthar, Ramji Londonwale, and Phir Milenge, His next project is going to be with Maniratnam.

He continued to work with directors as a cinematographer in Tamil films, including S. Shankar's Anniyan, Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, K. S. Ravikumar's Dasavathaaram and Villu, which was directed by Prabhu Deva.

[9] The video features music by Pritam and uses the lyrics of "Bande Utkala Janani", a patriotic anthem written by the late Odia poet Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra.

[10][11] The film is a sequel to Indian (1996)[10][8] In 2024, Varman was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of its 2025 class of new members.