Why scared to watch Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag
Will his take on Sholay, arguably the nation’s most revered film, vindicate him of his recent catastrophes, or will this be the biggest of them all?
The promos of the film are on air, and there is a rational skepticism towards it. I am almost fearful of watching Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, a sentiment only augmented by the narcissistic tone to the title (who prefixes their name to their films?).
So, why are people expecting RGVKA to be a mess, while hoping they are proven wrong? The apprehension is not coming from people indifferent to RGV as a director, but from those who have enjoyed his cinema over the years and are, quite frankly, puzzled by his work over the last few years. His fans (this writer included) who loved the breezy Rangeela, were enamored by Satya, shivered through Kaun and were deeply impressed by Company, enough to watch it over and over, admiring the screenplay once, the acting the next, the dialogues the other, could not understand where films like Naach, Darna Zaroori Hai and Nishabd came from.
Varma named his company `Factory’ and showed us that he believed in mass production putting out one mediocre film after the other – Mr Ya Miss, Gayab, D, and Darwaza Band Rakho, among others. Film-going audiences grew clever over time, learning to differentiate RGV- produced films and therefore expecting less, and RGV-directed ones, where the films continued to be looked forward to with immense anticipation.
So even if these strange films (save some truly interesting, original ones like Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, Ek Hasina Thi, Ab Tak Chhappan and My Wife’s Murder) kept coming into the theatres, the audience gave its verdict by refusing to watch them. Varma’s stock was still up as films directed by him were still widely regarded. Surprisingly, 2004’s Naach directed by Varma himself was a flop, and his next hit was a full year later with Sarkar.
His next three films were all inspired and painfully indulgent. Varma decided he wanted to remake his own film Shiva and he did so with Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari. The film bombed. Next was Darna Mana Hai’s sequel of sorts – Darna Zaroori Hai. Same fate. And then came Nishabd (Varma’s interpretation of Lolita) that honestly left everyone confused. Varma wasn’t known to dare-and-duck, but here he chose a provocative subject, only to duck under an armour of preachy dialogue and a bizarre, all’s-well ending, more quickly put together than your 2-minute noodles.
The reason his downward spiral is so important, is that it’s very essential his brand of films survive. After Rangeela, Satya and Company, he became the strong, stoic presence in the industry parallel to the camps that wouldn’t look beyond making opulent dramas. His films became the symbols of interesting, different, smaller cinema that the audience was hungrily developing a taste for.
He’s always been delightfully irreverent but this time he’s taking a truly long step in remaking Sholay. He even wanted to retain the original title (Ram Gopal Varma Ki Sholay) inviting the ire of the original producers. However, after a messy battle with the Sippys, Varma was forced to change the name, where he promptly changed Sholay with its close synonym – Aag.
RGVKA, is being looked forward to and viewers are desperate to draw delicious comparisons between the original and the remake, with general opinion dangerously skewed in favour of the original. After all it’s interesting to cast Amitabh Bachchan as Gabbar but Nisha Kothari as Basanti (here,Ghunguroo) and Sushmita Sen as Radha (renamed Durga) is a stretch and has to be seen to be believed. Plus he’s challenged Helen’s softly sensuous Mehbooba Mehbooba with Urmila’s aggressive look out of the caves.
Varma’s taken a unanimously revered film – a piece of history, really—and has dared to make it his own way. We hate him for his guts and we love him for his guts. What remains to be seen are the sentiments post-Friday.