I’m a fan of Raj Thackeray:RGV
Sunday, May 18th, 2008 at 12:33 am
It was 8 pm. Mumbai city was orange – street lights, headlights… The burban traffic, however, made me see red. I was on my way to Ram Gopal Varma’s office in Andheri. The filmmaker is quite a sucker for time. But interestingly doesn’t wear a watch. "I like to control time, I don’t like time controlling me," he said, as we made ourselves comfortable in his meeting room.
Amitabh, Abhishek, Ash stared down at me from the larger than life poster of his forthcoming flick, Sarkar Raj that has as its motto: Power cannot be given, it has to be taken. So how power crazy is this creator? "I don’t want power to build armies, I don’t want it to make crores of rupees, I want power to simply do what I want to do," suggests Ramu, "Ever since I was conscious, I have been powerful. Nobody has ever been able stop me from doing what I’ve wanted to do. Things worked, things didn’t work, but till today there hasn’t been a single day that I felt powerless. And I’m very powerful not because I have money or muscles, but because I don’t care about what may happen to me."
Hasn’t the failure of RGV Ki Aag ebbed the man’s flaring ego? "Failure of a product doesn’t happen one fine day. You preempt it. I was mentally prepared for a very adverse reaction to Aag from the beginning. Unfortunately, the shock wasn’t as much as what people must’ve expected me to suffer from. They may be disappointed to hear that I didn’t read a single review, or hear any negative comments, because I was busy making Contract . But I was aware of the tremendous ridicule and flak; it made me presume that many expected me to be in a depression exactly proportionate to their enjoyment. They may have assumed that I was hiding under the bed and not coming out, but the fact was that I’d moved on…on to my next film!"
Tea? Coffee? Ramu asks. I decline, while he asks for a drink for himself. Spiked! Wonder what Health Minister Dr. Ramadoss’ reaction would’ve been. We probe for his comment on Mr. Minister suggesting that smoking and drinking scenes in films should be banned. "I don’t smoke, but as long as I can have my drink at my place, and nobody stops me from that, I’m fine!" he laughs. "I don’t believe in banning anything. It’s hard to believe that somebody will see films and learn to drink and smoke," avers the director.
Abhishek’s intense stare gets my attention. Yes, I’ve to ask questions about him and the film. So, is Sarkar Raj really based on the Bal Thackeray-Raj Thackeray rift, I ask Ramu. "There is a character who has a certain resemblance to Raj Thackeray, in terms of his attitude and personality, but his track is not related in any way to the on-going rifts or issues," he explains.
"Raj Thackeray for me is a very strong personality," continues Varma, "I know nothing of his political party, its intentions, or what he stands for… I’ve no interest in that. But on a personal level I know Raj well. And I’m a fan of his. The impact he has on me on a personal level could definitely be carried forward to a character in my film. Raj Thackeray will be a part of many of my movies, his facets and aspects that have attracted me will be represented by many characters in my motion pictures. But I reiterate, there is no reference of Raj or MNS’ issues with whomever or whatever in Sarkar Raj ."
So have the Thackerays already seen the film? We heard of a special screening being organized for them. "No! But I’ll show my film to anyone who wishes to see it. Films are for the public at the end of the day. So if Raj wants a special screening, I’ll surely give him one," affirms Ramu. And while he so fondly speaks of the personality that is Raj Thackeray, I ask him to choose between Mumbai and Bombay. "I like the word Bombay. But I’m an outsider. For the people who are from Maharashtra, their take on it is different, and that again is not my problem. I’m a guy who lets things be. I’ll do what I want to do and you do what you want to do. To tell someone else what to do and to enforce it, is something I fundamentally disagree with," he admits, sipping his last sip of spirit!
Amitabh, Abhishek, Ash stared down at me from the larger than life poster of his forthcoming flick, Sarkar Raj that has as its motto: Power cannot be given, it has to be taken. So how power crazy is this creator? "I don’t want power to build armies, I don’t want it to make crores of rupees, I want power to simply do what I want to do," suggests Ramu, "Ever since I was conscious, I have been powerful. Nobody has ever been able stop me from doing what I’ve wanted to do. Things worked, things didn’t work, but till today there hasn’t been a single day that I felt powerless. And I’m very powerful not because I have money or muscles, but because I don’t care about what may happen to me."
Hasn’t the failure of RGV Ki Aag ebbed the man’s flaring ego? "Failure of a product doesn’t happen one fine day. You preempt it. I was mentally prepared for a very adverse reaction to Aag from the beginning. Unfortunately, the shock wasn’t as much as what people must’ve expected me to suffer from. They may be disappointed to hear that I didn’t read a single review, or hear any negative comments, because I was busy making Contract . But I was aware of the tremendous ridicule and flak; it made me presume that many expected me to be in a depression exactly proportionate to their enjoyment. They may have assumed that I was hiding under the bed and not coming out, but the fact was that I’d moved on…on to my next film!"
Tea? Coffee? Ramu asks. I decline, while he asks for a drink for himself. Spiked! Wonder what Health Minister Dr. Ramadoss’ reaction would’ve been. We probe for his comment on Mr. Minister suggesting that smoking and drinking scenes in films should be banned. "I don’t smoke, but as long as I can have my drink at my place, and nobody stops me from that, I’m fine!" he laughs. "I don’t believe in banning anything. It’s hard to believe that somebody will see films and learn to drink and smoke," avers the director.
Abhishek’s intense stare gets my attention. Yes, I’ve to ask questions about him and the film. So, is Sarkar Raj really based on the Bal Thackeray-Raj Thackeray rift, I ask Ramu. "There is a character who has a certain resemblance to Raj Thackeray, in terms of his attitude and personality, but his track is not related in any way to the on-going rifts or issues," he explains.
"Raj Thackeray for me is a very strong personality," continues Varma, "I know nothing of his political party, its intentions, or what he stands for… I’ve no interest in that. But on a personal level I know Raj well. And I’m a fan of his. The impact he has on me on a personal level could definitely be carried forward to a character in my film. Raj Thackeray will be a part of many of my movies, his facets and aspects that have attracted me will be represented by many characters in my motion pictures. But I reiterate, there is no reference of Raj or MNS’ issues with whomever or whatever in Sarkar Raj ."
So have the Thackerays already seen the film? We heard of a special screening being organized for them. "No! But I’ll show my film to anyone who wishes to see it. Films are for the public at the end of the day. So if Raj wants a special screening, I’ll surely give him one," affirms Ramu. And while he so fondly speaks of the personality that is Raj Thackeray, I ask him to choose between Mumbai and Bombay. "I like the word Bombay. But I’m an outsider. For the people who are from Maharashtra, their take on it is different, and that again is not my problem. I’m a guy who lets things be. I’ll do what I want to do and you do what you want to do. To tell someone else what to do and to enforce it, is something I fundamentally disagree with," he admits, sipping his last sip of spirit!
Loading ...
Loading ...
