Here is a man whose blogs are best described in three words -- intense, scary and sentimental. Each blog entry is a detailed reasoning behind the storyline of one or other of his films. The inspirations are intense, the instances are scary and the treatment is sentimental. I was lucky to catch up with the man in bangalore and chat up with him.
He has an unofficial copyright over the Mumbai underworld and psycho thrillers for Bollywood. From the subtle Rangeela to the hard hitting Satya to the ‘talk of the town’ RGV Ki Aag, this man has dared to do it differently. An atheist in real life, he sniggers at people who lead normal lives with no problems. LD In conversation with Ram Gopal Varma, on his forthcoming movies, recent passion for blogging and more
Q. Rangeela, Satya, Company – haven’t you had enough of the Mumbai underworld? I hear your next film is based around the same theme.
The day I landed in Mumbai many years back, the city fascinated me – not the fast pace, the cross culture of people and the usual suspects – but the scary undercurrents of fear, domination, power – a small world with its own bizarre set of rules -- the underworld. True, I have made multiple movies revolving around the same theme, but between one film and the rest, I have personally learnt so much more about the underworld that I feel the need to make another film. I evolve with every film. For instance, Satya was an insider’s view of the underworld, my next release Contract tells you what happens when the underworld meets terrorism.
Q. Horror is your other favourite genre of cinema. Reason?
I am an atheist. And I am a film maker. Therefore I imagine and my imaginations are usually backed by scientific logic. What happens when some actions, instances and situations shake up this atheist and leaves him spellbound for answers? What happens when such a non-believer is frustrated with an action that has no reason or meaning? You will see a movie like Kaun or my other forthcoming film Phoonk, which tells the story of a non-believer who realizes that superstitions remain that till it happens to you, and when it does, it has the power of make you fear the most inane objects of daily life, that have gone unnoticed till today. horror for me is born out of instances that have no answers.
Q. As a film maker, how much does technology aid you to create better films?
I am nothing but a story teller. I will either talk my story or write my story or shoot my story. The technology comes to the aid of the technicians who give finishing touches to the product – the sound, the effects, the colours. As a director, I do not use much technology because it’s about what’s in my head. But I’m all for anything that makes my final product look better.
Q. I happened to stumble upon your blog on the Net. Started recently?
A month back to be precise. It wasn’t intentional at all. It was more of a natural outlet for me to interact with my fans and the outside world in a more direct manner. Whenever, lets say, I talk to a journalist or at a function, the person at the other end will interpret what I say in whichever way he or she wants to. But my blog has what I feel, think, how I react to situations and instances. I was quite surprised to find that a lot of people responded, to whom I responded back. I’ve really taken to blogging and am sure I will keep doing it. By the way, what do you think of my blog?
Well, here’s what I thought:
RGV’s blog is personal, intense, a little eerie and follows a cause-effect structure. Most of the topics revolve around his forthcoming and already released films and the reasons that led to the making of the film. Here’s a typical example:
“A friend of mine, not a film guy, who lives in Oshiwara on the fourteenth floor, told me about an instance… My friend used to bump into this guy in the building’s lift once in a while. And they used to exchange pleasantries, "Hello, how are you? Happy Diwali" and things like that. And then one day my friend’s wife told him that this guy has been arrested and taken away as he has been absconding in a murder case in Karnataka or somewhere… “the thing about Bombay is that you may live for ten years as neighbor to somebody yet have no idea who he is”. That was where I got the plot line for Satya.”
One of the most impressive entries though is on how the man had a mental encounter with the Mumbai underworld, which ultimately led to the entire series of films:
“When I first came to Bombay from Hyderabad I couldn't get over a train ride through the Dharavi slums. It looked like one single roof and I wondered how people live there, how anybody can go in and go out. I saw children 2-years old crawling just about 3 feet away from the railway track while the trains were rushing to and fro. Those things made me understand the nature of the city. The general atmosphere of Mumbai was one thing I was really fascinated right from the time I was making Rangeela, while traveling around doing various shoots. Once in a while I used to hear the word Underworld….”
Each entry is extremely personal and it is quite delightful to see a senior enough film maker going all out to explain the fine nuances of his thought process that culminates every time at the plot of a film. A certain sense of personal involvement is felt with the man as you try and decipher the steps that led to the formulation of a theme for the film. Certain ‘eureka’ moments often appear towards the end of the entries, which complete the process of evolution of the plot. All in all, the blog makes for some serious intense reading. Requires full attention but worth your exclusive time.
His blog can be accessed at; http://rgvarma.spaces.live.com/
Copyright; Living Digital
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