He is known as the controversial yet sought after movie maker and though his success graph suffers ups and downs, that has not waned his following and instead, it has increased with each passing day. To someone whose best friend is controversy and finds ‘good is boring’, his instinct as a film maker surpasses all boundaries. He is none other than Ram Gopal Varma and here is an exclusive from the man himself to SiraSri about his latest creation… ‘Rakta Charitra’.
Is it true that the second part of ‘Rakta Charitra’ is releasing in a week?
No, the second part will be released in two weeks time and the promos for that will begin as soon as the first part hits the screens.
How is the response to the audio so far? What is the opinion of Paritala Sunita and Suri on the songs?The response to the audio is good I hear. But I have not been in touch with either Sunita garu or Suri to know about this. However, I would like to make it clear that this is just an inspiration from the lives of Ravi and Suri and not an exact representation of their lives. But since I have the equation with them, I am looking at having a special screening for them once the entire thing is ready.
The general public has connected the character of Shatrughan Sinha with NTR looking at the costume and appearance and then the promos show him uttering the dialogue of ‘Enugu cheemani tokkithe chaavadu..nalipi champaali’. Can we think that NTR is being shown in a negative light in the film?
See, for any powerful character, I might get an inspiration and the same goes for this character as well. For instance, the making of ‘Sarkar’ was based on a strong inspiration of someone like Bal Thackeray, without that the conceptualization is not there. But then, this is just the inspiration per se and the story as such is my own so the question doesn’t arise whether anyone is being shown in the right frame of light or not. It is just a story and the presence of a political touch to it. As far as ‘Rakta Charitra’ goes, I never met NTR or Paritala Ravi so it is not true to say that I have put their characters in the film without knowing them. The only truth what I believe and what I understand out of a situation, there are no factual evidences to that. It is only about taking relevant points and bringing in the scenes. To be honest, there are no negative shades in ‘Rakta Charitra’ as well. In my view, no one is negative. It is only a result of a particular action that an individual gets caught into few situations and that is exactly what I have depicted here.
The trailers have shown something like ‘Pratheekarame Parama Sopanam-Mahabharatham’ and then the song ‘Hare Hare Rama….’ Followed by word ‘champaraa’. And in your song ‘Kattulato saavaasam…’ the lines of Buddhism are mentioned and it runs on a soothing note. In a way, isn’t this giving a message that Hinduism promotes violence and only Budhdhism, the peace?
Any thought of an act comes from a strong emotion and that is the realistic experience to be brought in the viewer. The song goes off on a peaceful lyrical note in the start and then there is a hard hitting voice which says ‘Champara’ with high sound. It is more to do with the audience getting connection with the song. So, there is no religious relevance in what is being said here. It is only to create an effect and I believe that more than the meaning, the idea is to create a shock to the audience. Basically, the thought is to give a feel of the powerful emotion and its consequence.
In your song ‘Kaththulatho…’ there is a line ‘viluvaina bathuku velalenidaithey maranaanni poojincharaa..”. What does it mean?
Though I didn’t really go that deep into it, I believe that if anything is done or told with conviction then all will believe. On the other hand, the tune is also appealing and unusual which will make the viewer listen to the song repeatedly to know what is being said there.
Usually, an audio release is meant to be the day for the music directors and lyricists. But during the audio release function of ‘Rakta Charitra’, no names were taken. A talk is that RGV believes in taking the entire credit, what are your thoughts?
There are four music directors for the film and all of them are in different locations busy with their works. I think that the thought of RGV taking the entire credit for anything is foolish, instead it is the other way round. I try and give the maximum credit to others. For instance, I think this is the first time in the history of Telugu cinema that a special note has come from the lyricist as part of the audio album. It was just a formal announcement of the audio release and nothing more.
A gossip was making rounds during the time of Paritala Ravi’s assassination that the hand of Y S Jagan is there in it. Then the incidents like Jagan calling for the pressmeet and asking for a CBI enquiry happened. Is ‘Rakta Charitra’ having something on those lines?
Whenever there is a conspiracy theory being planned and executed there are bound to be number of speculations and there will not be any specifics in that. And sometimes the chances of maybe some involvement but not direct is also there. So it is a mere speculation that rises out of such incidents and names are bound to be taken. But I don’t have any such thing.
The head tonsuring scene has created quite a controversy and many have related it to an actor in real life. Was it your thought as well when you had that scene in the film?
It was just few pictures which I had released in my blog and things went out of proportion. Incidentally, it is just a regular practice followed in the Seema area to humiliate a person that’s all. Truth is, there is no film actor in ‘Rakta Charitra’ and it is not related to any incident that happened in real life.
It was mentioned that Mohan Babu was to do the role essayed by Shatrughan Sinha, why that didn’t work out?
The reason for that were few logistical problems. There was the issue of re-shootings and then there was the date problem. We also thought that using the same actors for all languages was more feasible option so we went along with Shatrughna Sinha.
Some are saying that since Suri is alive, the film gives credit to Suri as the hero, is that true?
My films are not about heroes or heroines. It is about the characters and how they react to certain situations. There is no particular side that I take for any character and it will always be a neutral stand. For example, if you look at ‘Satya’, there is no hero or villain, it is only the character and his/her actions so you can understand.
You have done many movies on Mumbai mafia subject, did you receive any threats from them?
See, when someone takes a decision on becoming director, that person must be prepared to take any action and face any reaction. I like getting into hard hitting subjects right from the start and so it was offbeat. When you get into the way of people, they tend to feel insecure about it and a little uncomfortable but not to the extent of giving you some serious warnings. My desire is to tell a story than to worry about the consequences.
So, you are saying you have never received any threats
There will be some clashes of interest and sometimes they talk about it but there is no situation of a serious life threatening.
You have just announced ‘Bejawada Rowdylu’ which is already triggering some controversial response. What is the idea behind this film
I have spent my growing years in Vijayawada when I was doing engineering at Siddartha College and I had a fair idea of the gangwars there. Since I am a cinematic person I always nurtured the desire of getting it to the screen. This is not something spontaneous, I have registered the title of the film four months back and I feel a strong emotional connection with the backdrop of Vijayawada.
‘Rakta Charitra’ is about family feud, ‘Bejawada Rowdylu’ is more of a political war, don’t you think it will lead to a controversy on a higher scale and the impact it will cause on society
Be it political parties or organizations or groups, it is general human related emotion and not much with the region. Vijayawada is more of a cosmopolitan backdrop while Rayalaseema is more of an arid region. So, the terrain will be entirely different. When it comes to political war it is not a unique subject, it is a common feature everywhere but what is unique to Vijayawada is the important aspect here.
You have returned to Tollywood after a gap so how do you think Tollywood has changed?As such, I am not aware of Tollywood and the changes in it. So, it would be wrong to generalize and give an opinion on it. The working styles are different but one thing I can say is that as a director, I have not changed.
Your comeback to Tollywood is being treated as a threat to the top league directors of Tollywood, what do you feel about that?
Well..it is just that I believe in dealing with niche subjects and most of my film are experimental so I don’t see any reason why there should be any threat to anybody. So I think there will be no change in the Tollywood top league.
The era of ‘Shiva’ is about 20 years old and its impact was there for a while. Now, the new generation has seen only the flops of RGV so far. But with ‘Rakta Charitra’, the youth are getting attracted to it and the legacy will go for another 20 years, have you thought of doing an autobiography?
(laughs) I never really thought of doing something like that but then right now, a compilation of my works is going on. This is not an autobiography per se but it would be an assortment of my experiences, my thoughts on films etc.
You have expressed your open admiration to Sridevi. From the time of ‘Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari’ she has changed and now looking older. Have your feelings for her changed?
Love is usually a memory based thing so it doesn’t have to do with the age or appearance. Sridevi was, is and always will be my dream girl. I love her forever….
