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Varma's Samba springs to defence of 'Sholay'

Ram Gopal Varma's "Sholay" has been in the eye of the storm from the beginning with many upset with him for remaking the cult film, but new Samba Sushant Singh says it is silly to pass judgment without seeing it.

I knew 'Shiva' would get bad reviews: Ram Gopal Varma (INTERVIEW)
Director Ram Gopal Varma is not surprised that audiences in Mumbai have found his Shiva, a remake of his directorial debut of the same name, to be excessively clichéd and violent

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Why can't Shah Rukh produce my film, asks Varma (INTERVIEW)
By Subhash K. Jha,

Mumbai, May 27  Eyebrows were raised when Shah Rukh Khan decided to produce and act in Ram Gopal Varma's social-fantasy, loosely based on "Time Machine". However, the director is neither defensive nor aggressive - he is just amused. 

"Why should it bother people if Shah Rukh produces a film for me? The minute Shah Rukh offered to produce the film, I agreed. Some people might think it may restrict my freedom, I disagree," Varma told IANS. 

"In fact, I think it gives me more freedom since I can forget about production hassles for once and just concentrate on directing. I am writing the script for the film. Shah Rukh will be my actor and producer. 

"Just who produces the film makes no difference. These are just technicalities. Who makes the film isn't important either. The film is." 

During 2006, Varma goes from Amitabh Bachchan in "Nishabd" to the untitled film with Shah Rukh. 

"Yes, I guess that's true. Shah Rukh and I have been in discussion for a long time. I guess it was now or never."

Is it true the story of the film is based on "Time Machine", just like Harry Baweja's "Love Story 2050"? 

"There is an element of time shift in my film. It is set in three time zones... the past, present and future. I have no idea what Harry's story is. But this is an unnecessary controversy. 

"Harry met me. I told him there are about 50 films in Hollywood based on 'Time Machine'. Films don't work on plots. They work on narrative and characters and how a plot is constructed."

Varma laughs off rumours that Kareena Kapoor walked out of Baweja's film to work with him and Shah Rukh. 

"That sounds rather far-fetched. I guess the journalists who wrote this must have a more fertile mind than my scriptwriters at the Factory. 

"To my knowledge Kareena left Harry's film long before I signed her. I am not concerned with why she left Harry's film. It is her choice. I am pretty sure my film and Harry's are totally different films." 

Varma raves about both his stars. 

"Kareena is someone I wanted to work with for a while. I offered her a couple of my earlier films but it didn't work out. She is just right for the part. I required someone like her. The Shah Rukh film suits her completely. As for Shah Rukh, I want to project him in a light that hasn't been attempted before."

Varma says his film is not a sci-fi flick. 

"I'd term it a social-fantasy. It's a kind of adventure-action entertainer. It's too unique in concept to describe. I don't think it has any genre or reference point. Shah Rukh and I couldn't be doing something routine. Not after waiting so long to work together." 
 

Nisha raves about Ram Gopal Varma

Two-film-old Nisha Kothari is quite busy with the shooting of "Shiva", a remake of her debut vehicle "James", which sank without a trace at the box office. 

When asked if she wasn't bored working on the same script, she said: "No, not at all. Working with Ram Gopal Varma is more pleasurable than being directed by any other director."
 
Varma on to third multiple-plot horror film (INTERVIEW)
By Subhash K. Jha,

 
Mumbai, April 28  "Why not?" the prolific Ram Gopal Varma shoots back when you ask him why he needed to make one more multiple-story horror feature "Darna Zaroori Hai" after the failure of "Darna Mana Hai".

"Why should that be a deterrent? There are a hundred action films and love stories made each year. If one of them doesn't do well it doesn't mean everyone stops making films in those genres," Varma told IANS in an interview. 

And he actually drops a bomb. 

"I am starting my third multiple-story horror film 'Darna Mangta Hai' in July. It will again be something totally different from 'Darna Mana Hai' and probably 'Darna Zaroori Hai' too if it doesn't work.

"To think 'Darna Zaroori Hai' is anything like 'Darna Mana Hai' is as misleading as to think 'Nishabd' is 'Lolita' just because my film is about a relationship between an older man and a very young girl. 

"'Nishabd' is not 'Lolita' at all... just like 'Darna Zaroori Hai' isn't 'Darna Mana Hai Part 2'," Varma retorted. He has just finished shooting Mohit Ahlawat's re-launch vehicle "Shiva" and is about to direct Amitabh Bachchan in the unusual "Nishabd". 

Varma says he has rectified all the errors from the earlier six-storied shriek-scraper. 

"I think 'Darna Mana Hai' was a very original concept. But there was confusion about all the stories having one end. The various directors and me were not clear about what genres the stories were to be pitched in. The attempt was to correct the mistakes and make 'Darna Zaroori Hai'. 

"I think the stories weren't scary enough the first time. The stories featuring Aftab Shivdasani and Shilpa Shetty didn't work. This time I have taken care to create constant scare. One deterrent in enjoying a horror film is its length. 

"In hindsight I feel 'Darna Mana Hai' and 'Kaun' were too long. 'Kaun' would have been just 45 minutes long. I want to make my next release, Chekravarthy's situational comedy 'Darwaza Band Rakho', only 90 minutes long."

Varma admits to being a major horror short-story buff. 

"I love the horror genre. I used to love the short stories by Hitchcock... The horror genre stretches the imagination. It also stretches the filmmaker's ability to tell a story using optimum technical devices like sound effects. 

"If you make a horror film within a reasonable budget, it is bound to work. People said 'Bhoot' wouldn't connect with people. But it did. The idea is to make what I want to make, and make it cost-effective." 

Henceforth, the various storytellers in the "Darna" series will be selected through an all-India contest. 

"I want to make it a kind of series. And I'll need a team to help me select stories. Yes, we'll have a contest to select the stories and directors. And no it doesn't matter whether 'Darna Zaroori Hai' works or not. I'll still do 'Darna Mangta Hai'. The idea is to continue making what I want to. My failures and successes are more visible because of my volume of work." 

Luckily, all the big stars in "Darna Zaroori Hai" - from Amitabh to Mallika Sherawat - agreed to be part of the film within Varma's cost-effective plans. 

"Everyone did it for the love of the project. Money was never a consideration." 

Varma now intends to keep the "Darna..." series going. 

"I'll make six stories once or twice a year, depending on how many stories I get. I pick my directors by instinct. It is a fallacy that directors are blessed people. As long as you have a passion for cinema you can direct a film."

Varma's production house hasn't released a film in the last six months. 

"I just wanted to get our office The Factory in place. The biggest mistake I made in the past was to force my vision on directors who worked for me. I'd give them a story and ask them to make the film. 

"For 'Darna Zaroori Hai' I asked the directors to come up with the stories. At least 40 directors came to me. These included Vivek Shah, who had never worked with me. Sajid Khan, who had never directed a film, came up with another interesting story. Manish Gupta, the writer of 'Sarkar', has done one. 

"But they have all come up with segments that look as competent as the one I have personally directed featuring Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh." 

Everyone from the experienced Varma to the complete novice Sajid Khan looks equally accomplished. All the directors were given complete autonomy. 

"I was only involved with the final cut. The audience will have difference of opinion on the content level. But in terms of execution all the stories look equally good. You'll be surprised by how much talent is visible. 

'My favourite in 'Darna Zaroori Hai' is the story featuring Randeep Hooda directed by Chekravarthy. You have to see how Randeep has performed as a man possessed."

Speaking of the episode Varma has directed, he said: "I take a great pride in the story because I thought there was nothing left for Bachchan to perform. But to get him to give expressions that he has never given... I don't remember seeing him express fear on screen. The story is bizarre -- they all are. 

"I am grateful to Bachchan for not thinking I have gone completely wacko. There are bouts of humour in the storytelling. But half the time you don't know whether to be scared or giggle. None of the stories have titles, by the way. So they have to be identified by the actors."
  

Varma returns with another spooky thriller
New Delhi, April 26  Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who failed to frighten with "Darna Mana Hai", is hoping to scare the daylights out of audiences with the episodic sequel "Darna Zaroori Hai" that releases Friday.

This time Varma has teamed up with six directors, each of whom will direct a sub-plot, one scarier than the other.

The first one is about a hallucinating professor and his student. It has Amitabh Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh in the main leads and is directed by Varma himself. 

The next revolves around a successful film director, played by Anil Kapoor, who wants to do something different and decides to make a film on ghosts. Apparently, Mallika Sherawat plays a mischievous ghost in the episode that is directed by Jijy Philip, who earlier made "My Wife's Murder" starring Anil and Suchitra Krishnamurthy.

The other spooky tales revolve around a group of kids on a trek, an insurance agent, an unfortunate incident and an overgrown kid.

Varma is not the only filmmaker who has compiled short stories and turned them into a movie. 

Last year, journalist-turned-director Samar Khan used the same formula in his debut "Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye" and Khalid Mohammad repeated it in "Silsilay". But none of them could lure audiences and both the films flopped miserably. 

As far as the horror genre is concerned, it was categorised as B grade decades ago. The mindset hasn't changed much even today with most audiences preferring to ignore spooky thrillers. 

However, this time Varma has roped in big names like Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Anil Kapoor, Suneil Shetty, Arjun Rampal and Bipasha Basu to bring in viewers.

Let's see whether the gambit succeeds.
   

IANS