As Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay readies for release, the director says he loves women and fields questions on Urmila, Nisha, Jiah, and why he's finally doing a film with Bachchan bahu Aishwarya Rai
There are different views on the remake. People like writer Salim Khan want to see it, while Jaya Bachchan and Hema Malini said on Koffee with Karan that Sholay shouldn't be remade. Jaya Bachchan even said you were upset with her for saying that.
No, I'm not upset with her! In fact when I heard she said that, I said, "It's a family problem. She should then tell her husband not to do it." And fine, there will be opinions. But without knowing what I'm making, just reacting to me remaking Sholay, that's not right.
My enemies are tense that I just might pull it off and my well wishers are tense I might not… Either way, everybody is tense.
Did you ever think of making Gabbar more contemporary by maybe playing with his sexuality?
(Horrified) I don't understand… you mean making him gay?
Well, there's a theory that suppressing sexual fantasies can bring out a vicious, sadistic streak.
No, Gabbar should be as macho as me. The thought has never entered my head. I hope it doesn't mean I have anything against gays, but I love women too much and I want to show my men that way.
There's more nostalgia - Urmila Matondkar is back in your camp, dancing to Mehbooba, Mehbooba.
There's no camp - it's all in the media's minds. There are just rooms in my office, so now I have 10 camps! I didn't have anything interesting for her but with Mehbooba, I think she's a fantastic dancer and will bring her attitude to the song.
You're the first to shoot with newly-weds Abhishek and Aishwarya. Are you shooting in Hyderabad because of media frenzy?
No, Hyderabad is the location for Sarkar 2. Whether they are newly-weds or purana-weds, they are two actors for me. And if the media wishes to be there, it will follow them to Hyderabad.
Why haven't you worked with Aishwarya before this? Didn't she fit into your earthy, sensual mould?
It's just that I needed a reason. A character requires that or this - Sarkar 2 is a high intensity, raw film, so there isn't scope for much glamour. We don't expect to see Ash as an intense actor - we expect to see her stylish, beautiful, in superb costumes and shot in diffusion filters. This new image will be raw and rugged.
It's out in media that she will play a scheming, controlling wife.
That's untrue. It's an exciting, different role, but she isn't the manipulative, scheming type.
Speaking of reports, one day you're moving in with Jiah Khan, the next, buying a bed for Nisha Kothari.
Yeah, one day I heard I was house-hunting for Jiah and the next day, the story was that we were fighting and she was out of my camp. Then, I was buying a car for her. These stories have nothing to do with me.
But do you have a role for Jiah at all?
I have no films with her. She was perfect for the part in Nishabd. Now I'm making Sarkar 2, while RGV Sholay is ready.
What about Go, Shabari and Darling?
They are all ready and will release between June-August.
How do you look back on the string of flops like Darwaza Bandh Rakho, Darna Zaroori Hai, Shiva and Mr Ya Miss?
I'd call it a garland of flops (laughs). I look at it the same way the audience does. I don't blame anyone, but I don't stand by those films. They were decisions that went wrong. It was my over-indulgence and hurriedness. I didn't have time to look at them between my own films. Now I'll get my act right, then I'll assign films.
People say, 'Ramu's lost it. He's either remaking his own or other's films.'
They have a point. See, I've always done remakes. Shiva (Nagarjuna one) was a remake of Arjun and Kaalchakra, Bhoot of Raat and Satya of Drohi. So if they think I've lost it, that attitude is subjective.
Your last film Nishabd sunk at the box office. What do you feel went wrong?
Lots of people ask me why things weren't tied up - in real life, it doesn't. It would look false if all the loose ends were properly tied up to make it either a definite tragedy or happy ending. Also, many people reacted violently to a few scenes in Nishabd - I didn't anticipate that.
Was it because people couldn't see Amitabh Bachchan wanting his daughter's best friend?
It's possible. When we first discussed this film, Amitji told me that quite a few people, including his family, didn't want him to do it. Even his make-up man, who probably never opened his mouth in 25-30 years of service, asked Amitji not to do this film! (laughs)
But both of us felt that people didn't know what we were making - they were just reacting to the one-line story.
I'm basically an immoral, anti-social element. I don't have the guts to be a criminal so thankfully I've become a filmmaker. Many people are moralistic - that was a revelation to me.
But many older people loved the film, saying that it mirrored their marriages, their needs.
That is the strange part of Nishabd. I really don't know if it's a failure. People could have had issues with Amitabh Bachchan or why Jiah was behaving a certain way, but everyone took them as real people - that was good for me. People say there should have been sex in it or that Amitabh Bachchan shouldn't have done that role - extreme opposites.
What's the status on your office? You designed The Factory with so much passion - how did you feel moving out?
I'm looking for an office, but haven't found one to suit my tastes yet. As for The Factory, I'm not attached to anything but myself. If I'm under a tree or in a bungalow, it doesn't matter. I operate from my mind, not a place.
Back to Sholay, what's happening with the court case?
The case is sub judice. Whatever the complainant (Sasha Sippy) is feeling is completely false. They don't know what I'm making and secondly, it isn't Sholay, it's Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay - that's the title registered with IMPA (Indian Motion Pictures Association) - anyways, those arguments are going on in court. Meanwhile shooting is over. We're doing post-production. We will decide on the release date in a week or two.
How do you feel about what you've made? The original was a favourite of yours…
Yeah, well for any filmmaker, making a film is an emotional process. Sometimes you hear, "In his heart, he knows he's made a bad film." That's bulls***. How can he and also why would he then make it? Regarding Sholay - I respected the old film so much that I've made it. But the setting is different. Locations, characters have changed in spite of me being very close to the spirit of Sholay.
Are you staying with the names of old characters?
Some of them.
Is this tribute like the one you made to Godfather with Sarkar?
Things are much closer in this case. When you think of old seventies films like The Magnificent Seven or Seven Samurai, all of them had this one man seeking revenge and sending people on a mission. It is like a throwback to that genre that Sholay captured then to suit the mindset of the audience even in rural areas.
But if I take the same mindset and set it in 2007, in Bombay, obviously it would be different. If those films hadn't been made, Sholay wouldn't have and then I wouldn't have made this. It's all complexly connected.
Farhan Akhtar reportedly said that there can never be another Sholay. But he remade Don. So how does that feel?
I don't know if he's said that, but as a viewer he has his right to decide what he wants or doesn't want to see. But I wanted to see his Don and I did.
And what did you think?
(Pauses) You caught me there (laughs). I liked and didn't like lots of things but I won't tell you what they were.
Obviously Mr Bachchan is convinced of his part. But how does he feel of someone else doing Jai? Did you sense any possessiveness?
If it was there, he kept it a secret. But Amitji is an incredible professional. I don't think he has the inclination or time to see what else is happening.
There have been many problems during its making. Mohit Ahlawat, meant to play Jai, was replaced.
There is a solution to every problem. I work too fast to ever live with a problem. At one point of time, I took a decision on Mohit, on another point I took it on Raj.
People feel Ajay Devgan should have played the strong, silent Jai.
But again, that's because you're looking at a typical aspect of Ajay, probably from Company. The way I've designed the roles; no one knows what I'm doing.
Ajay does a steamy song in it. How did you convince him? It's a first in his career.
I just told him that I've had enough of shooting women, for a change I think I'll shoot a man barebodied. I guess over Company and Bhoot, he's developed a certain trust in me - it's just an extension of that.
Aren't you banking on everyone seeing your remake once out of curiosity?
People keep saying that. I don't know how much the generation between 16-25 know of Sholay, even though they may have heard of it. Take Raj, who is playing Jai's role. He hasn't seen Sholay! He's 27-28.
Didn't you want Raj to see the original?
I was taken aback. When I first took him for the role, I had asked him to watch Sholay. Fifteen days later when I asked, he said he'd seen it more or less. I said, "What do you mean? When was the last time you'd seen it?" He replied, "Never. I didn't see it because it just didn't hold me." (laughs)
personally i think that sholay should never have been attempted to be remade cuz its a classic... and should stay that way...
Avatar and Signatures Shop
Anupamaa
4