Subscribe to RSSThe legacy of Ramu
I watched Satya thrice in the span of a week when it released. And each time, I came out being exposed to a new layer in the film. In one of the most captivating scenes of the film, Manoj Bajpai shouts, Mumbai ka king kaun? from the top of a rock. If the director of that film had succumbed to one of his frequent ego-trips and cast himself in the same scene, shouting Bollywood ka king kaun?, I would’ve agreed with him and cheered him on. The personality that I’m presenting in this and the next installment of Movers & Shakers is director of Satya – the mercurial Ram Gopal Varma.
Varma was a discovery of Nagarjuna, the telugu actor and the son of Dadasaheb Phalke awardee, Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Varma narrated a script to Nagarjuna and the rest was history. He was taken on board by the Akkinenis’ Annapurna Studios and debuted in 1989. 20 long years in filmdom were celebrated by RGV with Rann, his “expose” of the electronic media. In this post, I’ll detail these 20 years and the rise and fall, as they say, of Ram Gopal Varma. I’m not that familiar with his work in Telugu except for the ones that were dubbed/remade in Hindi. In light of that, I’d request the readers to add more value to this post by commenting on his Telugu films as well.
Its believed by many that Ramu’s directorial career can be divided into two phases – pre & post RGV ki Aag. I differ. I would rather divide it into 4 phases – pre Satya, his golden period from Satya – Darna Mana Hai, the beginning of his decline from Bhoot – Sarkar & the complete decadence from Shiva (2006) onwards.
Knowledge is to know that a snake contains poison; intelligence is to figure out what the poison contains and how it can kill you. Genius is to create an anti venom. Wisdom is to know all this but yet not to fuck around with the snake just in case the first three go wrong. – Ram Gopal Varma1989-1997
Hindi cinema had hit its creative nadir in the 80’s. The decade was dominated by mindless revenge dramas and the audience was turning their back on theatres. 1989 saw two pathbreaking films from debutants in the industry. One was the candyfloss romance Maine Pyar Kiya by Sooraj Barjatya of Rajshri Films. MPK brought back the people to the theatres and became a blockbuster. It also paved the way for a revival of the romance genre in hindi cinema.
The other, Shiva, was a gritty look at college politics by a newcomer to the Telugu film industry. The film was noted especially for its brilliant use
of the steadycam, that brought alive the claustrophobic bylanes of the Koti area in Hyderabad. It also turned the action sequences in Indian films upside down with an extremely realistic portrayal of fights scenes. The film made Nagarjuna a big star on the Telugu film landscape and Ram Gopal Varma had arrived with a bang. The success of Shiva prompted Annapurna Studios to remake it in Hindi, with the main cast intact. The Hindi version also became a hit, the audience up north completely overlooking the unknown names and the heavy south Indian feel that they were not really used to. RGV followed up the success of his debut with two more hits in Telugu, Kshana Kshanam & Antham.
The hat-trick of hits in Telugu and the good reception to Shiva prompted Bollywood producers to sit up and take notice. His next two Telugu features, Drohi & Raathri were both dubbed in Hindi. Drohi failed to make a mark in either language while Raathri (Raat), his initiation into the horror genre, did quite well. By now, Ram Gopal Varma had become a name known to film fans all over the country.
He started Varmacorp, his own production company in 1993. His first few films as producer, all in Telugu, were big commercial successes. Varmacorp was the forerunner for Factory, the current name for his production company. As a producer, he introduced several talents to the industry, but more about them later.
In 1995, he made his second Hindi film – Rangeela. Rangeela was also the first Hindi film for the music maestro, AR Rehman. It was the love story of an actress with a commoner and had autobiographical shades. Varma has mentioned that the idea for Rangeela stemmed out of his infatuation with Sridevi. Rangeela went on to make waves due to its soundtrack, a couple of sexy dance numbers by Urmila Matondkar & Aamir Khan’s boisterous performance as Munna, the commoner. The film established Urmila Matondkar as Ramu’s staple lead actress in many films to come.
He then directed Daud, a remake of his earlier hit Kshana Kshanam. With Daud, he moved towards Bollywood in a big way and thus began the most creative period of his career.
If we observe this phase in his career a little closely, we’ll see the promise he exuded with his body of work. He explored different genres, different styles & came up with some innovative filmcraft (pun unintended). 10 years in the industry, and he was well on his way to etching his name as one of the greats of Indian cinema.
The Optimist invents the Airplane. The Pessimist invents the Parachute. The one in between will stay on the ground and talk about the faults of both. – Ram Gopal Varma1998-2003
RGV had seen Manoj Bajpai perform during the shooting of Daud. He took a liking towards the intensity in the newcomer and decided to make a gangster flick with him. He got together a crack duo of young & energetic writers (Anurag Kashyap & Saurabh Shukla) to work on the script of a film on the foot soldiers in the Bombay underworld. And together, the three created the brightest showpiece in RGV’s career – Satya. The film attained iconic proportions in the history of Hindi cinema and is considered one of the best ever in the language. Satya had heavy influences from Martin Scorcese & Francis Ford Coppolla – the two lords of the gangster genre. The relationship between the various characters of Bhikhu Mhatre’s gang resonated deeply with Marty’s Goodfellas. One could see heavy shades of Coppolla’s Godfather in the conflicts between rival gangs. Godfather was also referenced brilliantly in the background music by Sandeep Chowta…with several versions of the Godfather theme playing in different scenes. Satya was a brilliant combination of gritty writing, claustrophobic settings, grim lighting & intense background music, all of which were to become hallmarks of his films from there on.
Around the same time, he also produced his first Hindi movie, the Mani Ratnam directed Dil Se. In a stark contrast with the commercial success of the Telugu films he produced, his initial Hindi productions were duds at the BO. But they were important films as they were either ground-bre
aking or the launching pad for some good talent and in some cases, both. Sriram Raghavan, Anurag Kashyap, Saurabh Shukla, Madhur Bhandarkar, Shimit Amin, Chandan Arora, Jaideep Sahni, Prawal Raman & E.Niwas were all protégés of RGV. Isn’t that quite an impressive line-up? Darna Mana Hai was the first anthology film in Hindi. Ek Haseena Thi turned the conventional thriller formula upside down and captured a flavour of Delhi that had never been done before. Road was a hatke movie by Bollywood standards in the true sense.
After Satya, he directed Kaun, Mast & Jungle in quick succession. Kaun was a Hitchcockesque thriller with just 3 characters – an experiment inspired by the Yash Chopra directed Ittefaq. Stellar performances from the trio of Urmia Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai & Sushant Singh made this film one of the best suspense thrillers ever made in Bollywood but unfortunately, it didn’t do too well at the BO. Mast was a lighter take on the commoner in love with a starlet theme but failed to achieve the heights of Rangeela. Jungle was a thriller inspired by the sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, who had branched into kidnapping and extortion. Another film that wasn’t received well but had powerful performances from the supporting cast of Sushant Singh, Makrand Deshpande & Rajpal Yadav.
In 2003 came the second of RGV’s most important films – Company, a companion piece to Satya. While Satya focused on the lives of foot
soldiers, Company was about the mafia bigwigs and their politics. Loosely based on the fued between Dawood Ibrahim & Chota Rajan, the two biggest names in the Bombay underworld, it was RGV’s biggest commercial hit and a worthy cinematic successor to Satya. The lead cast of Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi & veteran Malayalam thespian Mohanlal put up a solid display of restrained acting. It was also one of the best edited films in hindi cinema ever. While Satya was the launchpad for Anurag Kashyap & Saurabh Shukla, Company did the same for scriptwriter Jaideep Sahni & editor Chandan Arora.
As I mentioned earlier, these five years were RGV’s purple patch. His graph had peaked and the next couple of years started the downward trend.
The weakness of thought is that by its usage if you look far into the future and forget the present your memory cells might create a confused state between the past and the present and that will invariably create both heaven and hell on this earth itself. – Ram Gopal Varma2003-2006
Varma has mentioned Ramsay Brothers’ films as one of his cinematic inspirations. In 2003, the same year that he directed his seminal Company, he returned to the horror genre with Bhoot, his tribute to the Ramsay Brothers. Unlike the Ramsay Brothers films, Bhoot didn’t have ghouls & monsters as villains. It was a horror movie with a faceless spooky presence, that was symbolised and further enhanced with background music. This portrayal of spookiness was again a first in hindi cinema but again, the film got mixed reviews and was an average farer at the BO.
His production company, in the meanwhile, had tasted its first big success in Bombay. Ab Tak Chappan, a gritty cop drama based on extra-judicial killings was a hit. The film meant instant nationwide recognition for Shimit Amin, who went on to make Chak De India & Rocket Singh in times to come. ATC also helped Nana Patekar to come out of the stereotype of loudness he had gotten into post his dual hits with Mehul Kumar (Tirangaa & Krantiveer).
Then came Naach & Sarkar – two more films that evoked extreme reactions. Naach was another film industry centric relationship drama, though very different in feel & treatment compared to Rangeela (a love triangle) & Mast (a fun caper). Naach was intensely emotional, delving 
deep into the relationship between a struggling actor who makes it big & a struggling choreographer. But the pace of the movie was uncharacteristically slow for an RGV film and it tended to drag a lot. Also, the camera angles that were a strength of his earlier movies, moved into the “irritating” territory with Naach. Sarkar was his take on Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather. Dark, violent, gritty and rooted deeply in Bombay, Sarkar tasted success both critically and commercially. But it was also with Sarkar that he lost one of his biggest strength. He let himself be overawed by the actor in his film. And he has been in Amitabh Bachchan’s shadow ever since.
His Factory, on the other hand, could not repeat the success of Ab Tak Chappan. Vastu Shastra, Gayab, D & James, all vanished without so much as a whimper in quick succession. His loyalties were torn between direction, his passion & production, his bread and butter as well as the fuel for his passion. When James bombed, he took a step that accelerated the hitherto slow descent.
No one can ever teach anyone primarily because no one really wants to be taught. Each of us believe that we know best and hence we dumbly keep doing the same mistakes as what everyone else has been doing for centuries. We brush off the external suggestions as our internal ego makes us believe that we already know everything. The outcome of this thinking is what which makes us blame everything and everyone in the world except ourselves. – Ram Gopal Varma2006 onwards
RGV announced after the failure of James that the director had botched it in several places and that he’d be remaking the film with a fresh script. He even went ahead and titled the remake Shiva, in reference to his debut. Shiva could barely manage to match the performance of James on the BO. This proved to be the catalyst that hastened his slump.
RGV became ultra-dismissive of all criticism and built a sort of a wall around him thereafter. One disaster followed another as he kept losing a grip on things continuously.
After the debacle of Shiva, he announced his new project – a remake of the biggest name among Indian movies, Sholay. The film went through a lot of speculation about the cast and there were a couple of title changes due to various reasons. But the reprisal of Amjad Khan’s role from the original by Ramu’s new found muse, Amitabh Bachchan, was a certainty. Things did fall in place eventually, and the project was launched amidst a lot of suspense and anticipation.
Before the release of this remake, we were subjected to a crime, the remake of the Stanley Kubrick classic, Lolita – Nishabd. RGV got a newbie non-actress Jiah Khan to essay the lead opposite Amitabh and the product is remembered more for its weird & annoying camera angles than anything else. The dress rehearsal done, Varma proceeded to the grander thing – the biggest cinematic crime in the history of Indian cinema – Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag.
Yes…that was the title of the Sholay remake. The movie was a disgrace to the original and was panned across the board by everyone. The characters were caricatures, the actors were miscast, the story looked completely out of place. And the irritability factor in Ramu’s trademark style, already quite notorious by now, reached a crescendo with his Aag. In short, nothing worked in the film and it was doomed to disaster from day one.
Ram Gopal Varma hasn’t been able to dig himself out of the post-Shiva rut yet. Aag was followed by Darling, Sarkar Raj, Contract, Phoonk, Agyaat & Rann – none of them living upto the talent of the wildchild. But I, as a true-blue RGV fanboy sincerely wish that he does break this trend.
There was once a comment on his blog asking him to change his style. He responded exactly how I’d have wanted him to – in the negative. He should remain the madcap that he is. All he needs to do is break out of the wall he’s created around himself; see things in the right perspective and stop pandering to bigger egos. I want him to end his career not with the current spell he’s been throwing, but with a longer one that has many more Shivas, Satyas & Companys. Long live the legacy of Ram Gopal Varma.
Follow Us
54 Comments
One correction, Drohi itself was a remake of Antham. Also Antham did not do too well at the BO.
Regarding Kshana Kshanam, I can safely say that is the first cult movie in Telugu film industry. When it came, i was in college, many hated it, but many equally loved it also. It did not do too well. But later on the movie has achieved cult status, and is a favorite with many Telugu movie lovers. The dialogues in Kshana Kshanam became a part of every day life.
For me more than the movies, it is the way RGV’s movies impacted public that is significant.
Shiva came, Nag’s jeans shirt became a rage in campuses all over Andhra. And students started to carry cycle chains to college. The dialogs became a part of every day life. Same with Kshana Kshanam, Paresh Rawal’s dialogs to date continue to be narrated.
Also MPK a pathbreaking movie, no way. It was the standard Boy meets Girl stuff, and looks pretty much dated today. Just because it came when action movies were the norm does not make it path breaking. And if you are speaking of drawing the family crowds back to theaters, QSQT did it much earlier, so does not really score much there too.
Shiva was path breaking, it revolutionized the way fight scenes were shot. Till then the standard fight scene in Telugu movies, was the hero, thrashing a dozen guys, doing acrobatics, somersaults. Whenever a fight scene, audiences would actually go out for a break. Siva changed the rules, and after it came, even the standard Telugu masala flick, had the Siva style of action.
Good article. Liked the way you have charted his entire career, from early days till Rann. I have actually seen Kshana Kshanam and enjoyed it. Daud was a complete different league though, already covered in our 'cult' discussions. I love Raat too. It had an atmospheric horror that was its own. Sweet nostalgia kinds, Shiva and Raat. Have seen parts of Drohi and enjoyed RD's score.
I have one grudge though from the post, and which pretty much is my point of contention with most people when they attack RGV. We all tend to, for reasons of chronicling the man's huge volume of work, highlight what we think are the milestones, and skip the rest comfortably, the levelling effect. You spent enough time talking about Rangeela, Company, Satya, even Aaag which admittedly must have been memorable when you look back at RGV, and finished all the other titles(mostly) in one breath. For someone who has observed more of his later career which rapt attention, this might come as a little disconcerting.
Nishabd was loved by many critics, and certainly was not an insult to Lolita, or 'crime' as you term it. I saw it in a full house and could see many a moist eyes for its touching and humane finale.
Darling was much more than a romantic horror, but that phase is again when people loved to trash him more for what he made and how he would never make a Satya again. Unfair.
Naach is his most personal(arguably) work, and is still talked about and discussed in many a cult circles. I have personally discussed many of its aspects in countless RGV discussions and posts.
Contract was my favorite B grader from the man in recent times.
Phoonk was again a kick to the TV soaps in their guts, and yet kept one engaged.
I am a fan, so might never be able to do justice to the man and his films, but I had to open my mouth.
"Varma has mentioned that the idea for Rangeela stemmed out of his infatuation with Sridevi.".
If i am not wrong that was Mast, in fact if you take the final scene of Mast, Dalip Tahil, who till then has been chiding his son, furtively opens a magazine cover, and it has the picture of Sridevi on it.
RGV also made another movie with Sridevi, Govinda Govinda, that co starred Nag. The movie which was a rehash of Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child, however was a disaster at the BO.
Also much before Sarkaar, RGV made his own version of The Godfather, titled Gaayam. Michael was played by Jagapati Babu, then a struggling actor, this movie made him a star. Revati, played the role of Kay, Michael's girl friend who leaves him, while Urmi in her pre Rangeela days, played the role of Jagapathi Babu's cousin. I request you guys to watch this movie, just for the climax. It has a Ganesh procession going along, the chief villian( Kota who played Silver Mani in Sarkaar), has his goons plant a bomb which would explode, leading to riots. The way RGV builds up the tension, intercutting with shots of the Ganesh procession, Kota looking on tensely, and the frantic dash by the hero to save the situation is nothing short of brilliant.
Nitpicking… Dalip Tahil opens a page with Rekha … doesnt matter agreed… just sharing useless useless trivia…
RGV and Mani Sir to me are more than directors. Both of them are people who made me believe that we in India, can make movies that can match international standards. They were a part of my growing up memories from 1989-1999, the time, when i would watch every movie of theirs. To me, these 2 men are visionaries nothing less, for the way, they raised the bar in terms of technique, narration, characterization.
Just look at the movies these 2 have made- Shiva, Nayagan, Satya, Company, Bhoot, Iruvar, Kannathil Muttamithal, Thalapathi, Kaun. I would die a 100 times to have that kind of track record.
With due respect to Anurag, Vishal and others, while they have made some good movies down the years, they still are yet to come up with something like Satya or Nayagan or Company or Iruvar.
Movies that grabbed you by your balls, and jerked you up. Movies that made you say, "FUCK MAN, THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE".
I have read Lolita and dont really find any similarity except the template of older man obsessed with a much younger girl. Not sure if this classifies as a remake , still cant comment as i haven't watched Lolita.
On the whole the reactions to Nishabd were unnecessarily hostile and prejudiced, i thought the movie was well made and it's one of the finest performances of AB off late . It highlighted some unpleasant truths , in a rather dramatic way, none the less there is much to be explored in this movie … i would say it deserves more than such an offhand dismissal …
I did search for Gaayam in stores, couldn't find it. Did he ever work with Kamal Hassan? I remember Kamal had done few Telugu films with Sridevi, one being Dance Master I guess.
Yes, Mast was that film.
Also, RGV wrote the famous Thiruda Thiruda, his own way of paying homage to Bucth Cassidy…
As of Anurag, its a lost cause now mostly. He critiqued Ramu's cinema to no end just because of his personal issues with him. He maligned YRF when they made JBJ, and went back at singing their paeans when Kurbaan came.
And beat this, talk about timing!
"Anurag Kashyap is now friends with Suraj Jaiswal and Yash Chopra."
Tushy, Kamal-Sridevi was a great combo, but Dance Master did not star them. It was directed by K.Balachander, and starred Rekha( Tam actress) and Revati. Kamal & Rekha are in love, but as her parents do not agree, they decide to commit suicide. However Rekha dies, while Kamal manages to survive, but the experience leaves him bitter, and he later works as a dance master. The twist comes when Revathi falls in love with him, however she comes from a richer family, and also a bit of a race angle, he is Tam, she is Sinhalese. Yeah the movie came during the hey days of the Tamil movement in Sri Lanka. Anyway Kamal is reluctant to get involved, and rest runs on predictable lines. Honestly not one of Kamal's best movies, never liked it, too OTT, and melodramatic. It had a great score from IR though.
Kamal-Sridevi jodi had great chemistry, they complemented each other well.
Regards Nishabd, some how never really liked it. The topic needed a more sensitive treatment, and RGV's was too in the face.
Nishabd had nothing much to do with Lolita. I did read Lolita, and trust me its way too complex a novel to be picturized. Even Kubrick himself ran into many problems while doing it, and he had to release a pretty much watered down version.
Nishabd for me was closer to Poison Ivy, the Drew Barrymore starrer, where she has an affair, with her friend's Dad, managing to seduce and trap him.
Thiruda, Thiruda could have been a real good one, but Mani made a hash out of it. Comedy has never been Mani's strong point, most of his movies have some really awful comedy scenes.
Dance Master sounds like a nice story. I have the film, will watch it some time. Thiruda Thiruda is something I trip on multiple reasons, may be it not having subtitles makes me not understand or focus on the comedy bits, other are purely technical reasons.
in my opinion, Nishabd and Naach were unfairly criticized when they were released.
Nishabd had a good performance from the BigB and a new storyline. the masses could not enjoy the slow pace and more importantly most of the viewers and critics could not stomach BigB prancing with a teenager. "How can he stoop to this level" became the most common comment.
Naach was really ahead of its time. it had very good performances and a new treatment to the old story. only thing I found weird was the dance choreography, tho Antara Mali's flexible body looked hot! i think the public could not accept the leisurely pace of the film.
An older film of his which flopped but I felt was not too bad was Govinda Govinda. starring Nag and Sridevi it was very entertaining, had decent comedy and foot tapping music. IMO, the "God" angle near the climax ruined it. there was a controversy about its portrayal of the sanctum sanctorum of the Tirumala temple and many scenes were forcibly censored, leaving many key scenes ending or starting abruptly (the storyline is about the robbery of the bejeweled crown of Lord Balaji from the temple). RGV famously vowed never to make another telugu film after this one and moved to Mumbai. The hindi dubbed version of this film called "Great Robbery" usually plays on one of the hindi movie channels.
RGV did made another telugu film later, starring Antara Mali (her debut i think), Manoj Bajpai. I do not remember its title but it flopped badly.
@Tushar :
I agree I haven't stressed much on some of his later movies – the reason being they just didn't work for me. I understand exactly how you and many others must feel. And will make amends. Have added a link on Rann, for which there's a review on the site. Will touch upon the others here.
Nishabd : What you call a humane climax was perceived by me as a typical bollywoodised treatment. An about turn if you consider it a take on Lolita (The climax of Lolita was macabre and dark), which I've done so far. But now that Ratnakar has mentioned its closeness to Poison Ivy (I haven't seen the film), I might see that part in different light. But Nishabd still didn't work for me as a film.
Darling : Had an interesting storyline…though using the Fatal Attraction template to a large extent. But the cast spoiled it to no end. Fardeen Khan, Isha Koppikar and was it Ameesha Patel or Amrita Arora? Could have taken at least one actor.
Sarkar Raj : Again…the plot was interesting. And AB Jr. was decent. But the Bachchan-worship, of which we saw glances in Sarkar and which developed further with Aag & Nishabd, peaked with Sarkar Raj. The climax with Aishwarya asking for a cup of tea was a downer that negated all the good aspects of the film.
Contract : This is where the plot could have been interesting…but wasn't. And again…the actors or should I say non-actors? Ramu never looked as lost as he was in Contract anytime in his career. This was the worst of his recent films.
Phoonk : Everything about this film was loud. The background music. The camera angles. The acting by Sudeep & Ashwini Kalsekar. And in spite of the loudness, it failed to scare me, the first thing I'd expect from a horror film. It even failed as an unintentional comedy.
Not that I've been expecting every film of his to be another Satya, but at least one film here and there could have been one. Post Company, he has made 11 films. Is it unfair to expect 2 of the 11 to be in the class of a Satya or Company?
@Ratnakar :
What you say about QSQT is true…but a couple of years after its release, cable TV had started making inroads, with operators screening pirated copies of films, one everyday, and theatres had gone empty again. MPK , along with bringing the crowds back, also revitalised a genre that was to bring a lot of money to the industry when it was gaping down an abyss. Although I hate the film, one cannot deny its contribution to the industry. QSQT was a much better film, but didn't carry the same long-lasting impact that MPK did.
I could be wrong on the Rangeela/Mast Sridevi connection. But some costumes Urmila wore in Rangeela referenced Sridevi's costumes from Chandni. Could be that both films were inspired by the same infatuation, but the treatment was different in both.
I have to see Gaayam now. Would a subtitled copy be available for sale or rent?
And while Anurag might not have made a Satya, he still made a Black Friday (albeit an adaptation), a No Smoking (I loved the metaphors in it) & a Dev D (pathbreaking in its true sense). Vishal is a different case altogether. I rate him a better filmmaker than RGV. Maqbool grabbed my balls stronger than a Shiva or Satya. Makdee & Blue Umbrella are the only two children's films of note (and mighty good ones at that) in the last couple of decades.
I agree with you on Nishabd. Too in your face. To a large extent, his camera angles were responsible for it. One of my biggest gripes with the later part of his career has been that he uses his hallmarks without any wisdom. The BGM, camera, lighting etc. are very good tools if one uses them wisely. But this is like "ok…I have a sharp sword. Let me use it for chopping onions" kind of thing. Extremely irritating.
@CAD :
Naach was not a bad movie at all. But the pace wasn't leisurely. It was snail-like. The relationship between the two kind of stagnates mid-way.
The "how can he stoop to this level" thing is something that irritates me a lot. He's an actor playing a role, damn it. He's not supposed to be himself. My gripe with Nishabd is more from a treatment aspect and that he pitted a non-actor like Jiah Khan against Amitabh.
Darling starred Fardeen Khan, Eesha Deol & Isha Koppikar.
Good points. Somehow can't understand the issue with 'non actors'. Why does everyone need to be a Naseer and Om Puri. Movies need their breathing spaces, and it comes from a gamut of options.
I think you should not watch his films any longer because you will always look for things that you love to hate. Just my thoughts.
@Narci: "The climax with Aishwarya asking for a cup of tea was a downer that negated all the good aspects of the film."
that scene indicated nicely that she was boss now. i felt it was more effective than a cliches like ordering a hit on someone or barking an order on the phone.
Arey yaar, bechaari chai hi to pee rahi thi…aisa kya bura kar diya…lol/.
@ Tushar :
The issue with non-actors is that they're performing a role on screen which deserves some basic acting skills. No one expects everyone to be a Naseer or Om Puri…but can I at least expect something on the standards of a Hrithik Roshan? I would call someone a non-actor only if he/she fails to achieve even that. The lead cast of Darling & Contract failed at attaining even a basic standard of acting.
And I would continue watching his movies expecting his magic of yore from him. I never go into a movie of his expecting him to dish out stuff that I'd feel like trashing. But if he continues to disappoint me the way he has, I won't hesitate from being vitriolic.
@CAD :
Making her the boss kills the entire premise of the movie. Subhash Nagre is shown as an extremely astute person. How could someone like that hand over charge of his empire to a greenhorn who comes from a diametrically opposite background? There was no reason to show the transfer of command at all. It existed in the movie just to appease the ego of the Bachchan clan.
Got your point regarding acting. Personally, a film for me at times is more than its technique or elements like acting etc. I know it is a skewed logic and I have often been ridiculed and will continue to do so, but I still stand by Darling and Contract.
Hell no…I'd be the last person to ridicule someone for his/her taste in cinema.
No offence… but I have been refraining from a lot of film based blogs lately purely cuz, everybody seems to be romancing the idea of the "rise and fall" or the "fall" and "oh this one is a remake of that" …. I totally understand that this is purely out of a
1. Discussion stand point….
2. As an audience we expect better fare and we end up getting crap ….
But why do we have to dissect every single things into phases, guages and what not… I didnt like a lot of Ramu movies lately, but I am not game to the idea of he's fallen… and then celebrate a return when he is back… same thing with everybody .. YRF, SRK, AB … the idea of constant speculation and then silting reasons to it or trying to align it saying "this one is like this or inspired" idea of I have seen it is probably fun for some and means the world for others, but I am still unable to understand as to why
The other thing, is also to start creating blogs on probably what was read somewhere or media reported than probably just go back and check a few things ….. Nishabd was nowhere close to Lolita…. people even said it was like American Beauty …. sad that the media folks hadnt seen a movie called Poison Ivy, which was much more in Nishabd than any of the other references…
Darling again, where was any closeness to Fatal Attraction? conceptually the movie was probably closer to Raaz and so automatically into What Lies Beneath zone…
Another comparison that brings me to pull my hair out… Om Puri vs Hrithik Roshan? So cuz Hrithik Roshan is a mainstream actor does he automatically belong to the league "that may not b as good as Om Puri"? Naseer I ve probably seen some amazing movies…. but geneallly Om Puri is always considered to be way too good cuz he was in those groove of movies??? just for a reference can Om Puri ever do a Dhoom 2 and Jodha Akbar in the same year? and no, I am not talking about the six pack abs or things like that, but even to carry a suave attitude on screen??? its not a reference of Hrithik being a greek god and kinds now, but purely carrying that attitude…. and yeah neither Samuel L Jackson nor John Travolta the most good looking things in Pulp Fiction…. Thats exactly why both Naseer and Om puri could never come close to AB sr… acting is not just about choosing different roles… its also about the way to carry it to the hilt, be it whatever… Naseer I ve seen him do that, even if it was to play hero hiralal or a tirchi topiwale or a Jindal saab along with a Sparsh and Masoom… Om Puri… never… .Or maybe something is wrong with me that I can enjoy Om puri but never regate as a great actor.
Anyways not having much hopes with Rakta Charitra…. cuz the potency of topic in Rann has been butchered in a sad fashion, which leaves me pretty much with not much hopes as such from RGV… but then again will watch the movie as a fresh audience, hopefully it will elevate my satisfaction level and crash it with phoonk 2… but do i really care? no … I will end up watching his movies or rather any movie….
Nishabd is based on Lolita, 3 Deewarein is based on The Shawshank Redemption, Lagaan is a copy of Escape to Victory and my name is Kublai Khan.
and veerumandi is a remake of Roshomon
@ Pras
The Nishabd-Lolita thingy is a perfect example of what i call "Lazy Journalism". Hear something, parrot it out, without even bothering to verify it's true or not. Something which has permeated our media at all levels, as they say in the Sprite Ad, "Kuch bhi bol dete hain".
Darling, i feel is more closer to the Bruce Willis-Goldie Hawn-Meryl Streep movie Death Becomes Her. The story seems that way. Have not seen the movie, the cast of Fardeen-Isha-Esha really did not motivate me much.
I still feel RGV is going to be back with Raktha Charitra, he generally does well with the genres involving violence( Mafia, Faction wars, Student Politics) or shock( horror). Also while the topic might seem Andhra specific, the broader issue is there in most parts( the private armies in Bihar, the criminal gangs in UP, the badlands of MP, the Khap panchayats in the Jat belts, the contract killings in Southern TN).
"and veerumandi is a remake of Roshomon"
Oh that's nothing i had one movie fan telling me Kuch na Kaho was a remake of Jerry McGuire, i asked him why, he said in both movies, the hero falls in love with a single mom. I felt like strangling him on the spot. I guess the downside of the Net, has been that every d**k h**d with a Net access, feels he/she is smart.
Regards to Media… its not just lazy journalism, but its also that ' KNOW IT ALREADY' wali baat, even if they dont, they gotto create something up
but, where does it leave a lot of bloggers? The ones who according to the new constitution Mr Anurag Kahsyap – are "supposed to carry the torch while the media licks ass"… quite honestly it automatically kills my readership and respect for a blogger like that…I mean no offence to any blogger, of course to each one his own …. but such instances automatically create a 'false intelligence' bracket kinds… and we will find a million such ones…
there have been times where in you ve asked if I'd write a blog, and I used make some reasons up … quite honestly this is the reason I avoid, where in I feel I am not justifying the subject … more often than not, wherever I left my comment after a point we all will be screwing the topic up and getting some laughs, but the conversation would end up in one side …. the Mithun, 80s and all that… ek romancing feeling aati hai but not a justifiable stance… and thats not fair… for the movie or the makers or anybody as such … (oh shit… am I sounding like Aamir Khan?)
3 Deewarein being Shawshank … even I heard that hilarious … there were also talks of the Sohail Khan Fight club is a remake of the original Brad Pitt one… thankfully this one didnt work…. warna we might have heard another series of "remaking the classic fight club"
Well there are a good lot of bloggers who are carrying the torch in their own way. Some names that i can think of in immediate context.
www. indianauteur.com- These guys write some great stuff on movies.
http://www.seventhart.info- This guy Srikanth, does an excellent analysis of movies. You have to read his scene by scene analysis of Hey Ram. Was just brilliant.
celluloidrant.wordpress.com
ok that link was http://theseventhart.info/, sorry for the wrong un.
As i had mentioned in my earlier post on Movie Critics, it is one thing to disagree with a critic. Quite a lot, i found myself in disagreement with Ebert( Usual Suspects, Motorcycle Diaries) but it's another thing to see a critic or a movie blogger write a badly researched piece full of errors. That is unacceptable and criminal.
When you mention of movie bloggers, while there are people like those who i have mentioned above, who look at the issues and movies, not personalities, there are a whole lot of bloggers, who do it the other way around. These people are like
* Oh ok, lemme sound cool and intellectual, so i will run down Spielberg, Hollywood, praise every Euro movie, or Latino/ Iranian/ Korean movie, as they are the flavor of the season. Ok i do love the Latino/ East Asian movies, but these guys sound like "Look at me, i am writing on international cinema, i am so intellectual". And their analysis is more or less half baked. To counter that, they liberally sprinkle the blog with "post modernism", "mise en scene", "jump shots". Ask them to explain it in deeper, and they would be caught pants down.
** Ok lemme see who is the flavor of the season now. Aah ok it is Christopher Nolan, so lemme show how cool i am now. I will write on his movies, all i need to do is sprinkle it with words of "non linear narration" for every movie. Bas ho gaya kaam. Brian De Palma? Who, he is not the flavor of the season, right now, why should i write?
Just some random examples, but there are movie bloggers who do it that way.
Ha ha, good fun guys. BTW, for benefit of the jury, Darling was 'tumne mujhse shaadi nahi ki to main bhoot bankar tumhe sataaoongi' nothing more nothing less.
@Prasanna : Why does everything have to be dealt with phases?
I did it with RGV since there were these distinct phases with respect to his growth (I won't use fall here since it offends you). He showed his potential pre-Satya, had his best run from 1998-2003, then started deteriorating and finally had a sudden slump. These phases haven't been divided on either the critical/commercial success/failure of his movies or on their public reception. This is solely my observation of his career graph. And I've mentioned reasons as to why I divided his career in these 4 phases. I'm sorry but can't really help it if the format doesn't agree with you.
The Om Puri-Hrithik Roshan thing wasn't a comparison between the two. You should have bothered reading the comment fully before wanting to pull your hair. Since Tushar said that not everyone is supposed to be an Om Puri, I brought it up. The reference for Hrithik was because he's a person with limited acting abilities, who puts up a hell of hard work into his performance. This has nothing to do with his screen presence, something that comes automatically to him, and something an Om Puri can never match. I could have also used Farhan Akhtar instead of Hrithik…since Farhan comes across as equally hardworking. With the likes of Fardeen, we don't even get to see that. This is what I meant by that comment. And since you're touching upon the versatility of Naseer to handle any role and Om's lack of it, let me remind you of Ardh Satya, Dharavi, Kakkaji Kahin & Hera Pheri in one breath. Does that change your perception of him?
As for Nishabd, it did follow the Lolita template to quite an extent, didn't it? And me not having seen Poison Ivy is just as sad as you not having seen Death Becomes Her (another film I haven't seen). I mentioned Fatal Attraction (I also mentioned to a large extent…and not in its entirety). A love triangle with the spurned one getting violent.
@Ratnakar :
Calling this a badly researched piece is a tad unfair, my friend. I spent hours researching this, when I could have just skimmed through some matter already published about RGV and presented it in my own words. Instead, I presented my own perspective after giving it a lot of thought and putting in a lot of effort into it. I can understand that the criticism of his later career didn't go well with you guys…but hey…aren't we different people with different sensibilities? We can't expect all of us to be on the same page with our cinematic sensibilities. There would be several films that you like and I don't and vice versa. It might not have been epochal, I do accept my limitations given that I haven't watched a whole lot of movies, but badly researched, no ways.
Let me add here that I'm not expecting RGV to prove himself with every movie of his. He has already proved himself many times over. What I can't digest is pedestrian stuff from someone who has set such high standards for himself. Guess that should put things in a better perspective.
a small thing to add: "Darling" seems to be a copy of "Over Her Dead Body" which is playing on Star Movies or HBO these days.
Hum sabne milkar Darling ki itni maari hai ki Ramu ka ghost shouldn't be far….
@ Sam
Again i don't understand why ur getting touchy about it. I pointed out some mistakes in your post, i did not go into a tirade against your post, calling it badly researched. The badly researched thing which i was discussing with Pras was in general.
Regarding Lolita and Nishabd, i stand by my view, that comparing them makes no sense at all. If you feel both are same because they deal with an older man getting attracted to a much younger girl or the "Lolita Template" as you call it, there are dime a dozen movies with that theme. The latest i can recall being "Down in the Valley" starring Ed Norton. Even in India, there have been quite a lot of movies at least down South dealing with the theme. That's why i felt Nishabd was a bit more closer to American Beauty and Poison Ivy.
To be honest i feel disappointed, i was not attacking your post, i just pointed out a couple of mistakes, and also vis a vis Nishabd and Rangeela/Mast gave my take on where the inspirations are. I expected you to be taking it in a positive manner, but instead you seem to have felt otherwise. Come on Sam, did not expect this kinda reaction from you.
@Ratnakar :
I guess there were a couple of misunderstandings here and there on things that didn't really matter and should not have affected the discussions here, but unfortunately ended up that way. But the last thing was taking anything personally. I didn't do so and I'm sorry if you felt that way. I know that you guys wouldn't launch a tirade against anything without reason and I do have utmost respect for you guys on that front. And I'm glad we could sort it out over the phone.
I accept that my observations regarding the Nishabd-Lolita connection could be a bit misplaced. Haven't seen Poison Ivy, and somehow I found Nishabd closer to Lolita than to American Beauty. And as said, to each his own.
A good write up on ramu,loved the way you quoted Ramu in your blogs.The ending part would have been more detailed.
I feel Shiva had more impact on me than satya, i guess it is better than satya.But don,t you think , if you look at Major Directos' graph there is a point where they have made great movies, then medicore, then they have bounced back,e i guess ramu will be back with a bang.
Thanks Ashwin.
Trust me…there won't be a person happier than me the day Ramu bounces back. I walk into every film of his with a hope of that happening…and it pains me no end when it disappoints. But the hope never dies.
Shiva & Satya were both great films in their own right and I would never compare the two. For me, Satya had a better impact. Perhaps I was much younger when I watched Shiva and so, couldn't get it as crisp as I got Satya.
i watched shiva at age of 5, and Satya at age of 12.what do you think is the reason that ramu always raises our hope for his each film.
Wow! That's quite a young age to watch two of the most violent movies ever made in this country. No offense meant, but whoever took you to those films at that age either didn't know what the films were about or were too insensitive to a child's psyche.
As for the reason Ramu keeps our hopes up, I can't speak for others…but for me, it's the classics he has made, his deep understanding of cinema and his twisted mind.
@Narcissist
I wanted to watch Satya when i was in 6th syd but my dad took me to kareeb:(
little did he know that i buked the school next day to see the matinee of satya:)
Kushal : Bad boi!!
@Narcissist,
i draged my mama, when the censor board certificate, then onlyhe came it know it was an adult movie.Well , the movie did not inpire me to be gangster, the only bad thing was me singing Goli Maar in school classroom.
Ashwin…so I was right about him not knowing about the film.
Anyways…more than inspiring a child to become a gangster, the issue was of how the violence would play on a child's psyche. But then, its just my opinion and I guess I should shut up right here.
I don't think Satya would tbe right movie to motivate some one to be a gangster, certainly not after the way the main character is shot dead in the end, begging at his girl friend's door.
@ THE NARCISSIST
Don't call me bad boy…it sends wrong messages:P
Btw Satya did inspire me to become a gangster until i saw tragic ending:(
What are your thought's on company?
Incidentally three of greates Indian gangster flicks Satya,Company,Vaastav are available on moserbaer DVD for 35 bucks….i am gonna give my 10 year old cousin this DVD as a gift so that i can study his psyche:)
"Don’t call me bad boy…it sends wrong messages:P"
Bachhu, kitne din tak doodh peete rahoge.
"Btw Satya did inspire me to become a gangster until i saw tragic ending:("
Bola tha na, Bachu log kabhi Bhai nahin ban sakthe. Good Boys will always be Good Boys.
@Ratnakar Bhai
Doodh pina sehat ke liye achha hot hain
I am glad that i dint become gangster mujhe mumbai police se bahut dar lagta hain:P