Ram Gopal Varma’s office screams attention-seeking in everyway. If the exterior has the word ‘company’ (named after one of his films) emblazoned in bold letters, the cabins inside are named after luminaries as diverse as Donald Trump, Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler and his one-time muse Urmila Matondkar. That’s Varma for you. Once described as Bollywood’s finest directors, today Varma is perceived as someone reeling under a creative drought. But Varma is too busy making films to care about what people think of him. Even as Sarkar 3 is gearing up for release this week, Varma is already on his next – Arrest ,about special investigation teams featuring Abhishek Bachchan.
Following are edited excerpts from an interview:
What is the new addition to the Sarkar franchise?
Sarkar eventually is about a man [who has a] dictatorial attitude, who works almost parallel to the system or against it. Each time I [have] made a Sarkar , I [focused on] one such [aspect]. Any organisation when it becomes large, there is a certain conflict between the family and the employees. The nepotistic attitude of the leader versus an outsider who is also part of the organisation. So that kind of a divide inside the organisation, [and] how the negative forces try to take advantage of it to break Sarkar, that is actually the point of the film.
The influence of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godafather looms large. How challenging is to make a film that carries that shadow of such a landmark yet tries to bring a distinctive originality into it.
I [have] always maintained that for Sarkar , I [have] closely followed the tone of the novel (written by Mario Puzo) more than the film. The novel has tremendous intensity in its drama, in the narrative style which is not exactly how Mr Coppola adapted it. I [have] openly said that countless people have been influenced by The Godfather , and this is my ode to it. Why I think The Godfather had such a huge resonance across the world is because it’s not really a family story of the mafia, it’s about people in powerful places who can make decisions which would influence people. I think every organisation, every city, every district will have a man like Sarkar. And I think that connects. Sarkar is like a very realistic Superman. You put Superman in different situations, and it creates a different story. That's how I sum it up.
Now the inevitable question of how everyone perceives you as someone on the creative decline. How do you deal with this perception?
Since the last 27 years I lived everyday the way I want to live, I made every film the way I wanted to make irrespective of [it] working at box office. I never took the praise seriously, so I don't take the criticism also seriously. I don't have time to think about what people think of me. Because I am too busy making films.
But you’ve been very successful at one point?
Ram Gopal Varma STRDEL
First of all, that itself is a mistake. I have never been successful. I started with Shiva, my second film Drohi was a big disaster, Raat was a flop. Today people don't realise it. Then I made Rangeela .
Which was a hit.
Then Daud was a flop. Mast was a flop.
But Satya was a hit. Company was a hit.
I know. You’re only remembering the hits. And the reason for that I tell you, at that time social media wasn't there. So my flops never sounded so big. So it’s not like I made continuous hits.
Second point, the ratio of my number of films went up post 2006 just after Sarkar . The reason for that is technology advanced much, [I could] make films faster. In 2001, I put [together the] Factory and started multiple productions at the same time, without control both on the creative and the financial aspect. That kind of spiraled; we lost control of the entire thing. That nearly affected my entire career for a decade.
But unlike now, a lot of your earlier films were highly acclaimed by critics.
If you're asking me about my perception, I don't see a fundamental difference between any film I make because I put in the same effort and passion. I spend at least a year of my time in story development, pre-production, blah blah blah, till the release, and the audience watches it. Now, why would I waste one year of my time if I have no intention of pleasing the audience for two hours? By the time a film comes out and how it is perceived is not in my control because that is [the] viewer’s perception. I don't have difference in my mind between any good film or any so-called bad film. I don't know why that film worked because my effort is the same. For example, I worked harder in Aag compared to Sarkar . But people laugh when they hear this.
Do you think your clout has diminished in the industry?
First of all, I never had any clout. That’s again perception. You’d never hear that ‘Ramu wants to do a film, but is not able to make it’. Do you ever hear it? No. Whenever I wanted to do anything, I made it possible.
How do you look at your most famous films?
A lot of those films I don't like now because I am a different person. My understanding of the subject matter either has evolved, or may be changed, but not necessarily positive all the time. For example, Company looks very amateurish. Now I understand the underworld much [better]. I would have made it differently but it might not have worked. Similarly, there could be [a film] which didn't work, but I still think I made a very good film. Either nobody has seen it, or nobody liked it.
For example?
Not A Love Story for example. I feel the complexities of capturing emotions of two people after committing a murder just inside one room is more complex for me as a director compared to let’s say Satya . Though it was a flop, I think its one of my best works.
That makes me curious, how do you look at your other famous works, say Rangeela ?
Rangeela is near-perfect. I saw it after a really long time. I don't like Shiva at all. Satya I feel is almost there. As a comparison, I like 80% of Rangeela and I like around 50% of Satya and Company. In the case of Shiva , I don't even like 20% of it.
What about Bhoot ?
It’s okay. I like some scenes in it. Overall I don’t like it.
It doesn’t dawn upon you ever that there could be something you’d like to do beyond films?
For the last 27 years, I have not taken a single holiday. Not a single holiday. I am not even talking about holidays like going out of the country, or out of town. I am saying Sundays, festivals, x or y, nothing. I don't call it work because work is something you define as you have to do, and when you want to do it, it’s not work.
Your comments on social media always make news.
That is me. I am guy who has a very satirical sense of humour. I am a very non-caring guy. I need to express my views to anybody for that matter. But having said that, I feel (pauses) I am just overdoing it. I have decided not to do it anymore. At least, not to say anything against one particular individual or an organisation.
Does the backlash impact your work?
Never. I’ve been doing this for at least six-seven years. Also, I think its wasted energy in terms of constantly answering to the media. I just want to concentrate more on work.
