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Route Ram Gopal Varma
The filmmaker says Road is a formula-ridden film set in an un-formulaic atmosphere
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He is the one name in Bollywood that stands for individuality. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has come a long way from being a video library owner
With his latest production
Road, Varma hopes to thrill. Yet again. And forge new ground. Yet again. Never mind the controversies about wresting creative control of the film starring Vivek Oberoi, Antara Mali and Vivek Oberoi, from director Rajat Mukherjee, Varma has his own viewpoints. Strong. Individualistic. As Subhash K Jha discovers:
This week New Delhi saw a sneak peek of Road. What was that?
It is a paid preview and a done thing in Hollywood. As it is, we copy most of our ideas from Hollywood. Road is the first film to have a sneak preview. So, in that sense, we are the original copycats of this idea. It is basically meant to get the public interested in the film.
Road is coming during the traditional Shraddh period when audiences are said to stay away from movies. Frankly, I don't remember any period in the history of our cinema when people didn't go to see a film because it was released during a certain time.
I have never met anyone who has told me that he will not watch a film because of Shraddh. People do not want to see a bad film even it is released on Eid, Christmas or Diwali. The opposite is equally true.
Road looks like a slick thriller.
It is a popcorn film. It is probably the most formula-ridden film around set in a most un-formulaic atmosphere. See, when people talk about a formula film, they say, 'Action hai, comedy hai, sensuality hai, good locations hai, songs hai.' The film is full of these so-called box-office trappings.
But its backdrop and characters have never been seen before. There is nothing formulaic about those. So there is an interesting juxtaposition of the expected and the unexpected.
Is Road similar to your earlier film, Daud?
Not at all. Daud was a tongue-in-cheek film. There is nothing spoofy about Road. It is a very serious thriller. I would not call it edge-of-the-seat, though. Why should the audience sit on the edges of their seats anyway? That can only mean if they are waiting to get up and go.
I want audiences to lean forward but not topple over.
Are Vivek Oberoi's reservations about his role vis-a-vis Manoj Bajpai justified?
I do not know about Vivek's insecurities. He never mentioned them to me. About Manoj, long ago, Naseeruddin Shah said something important to me, "The character which creates problems in the story is important to the story."
To that extent, Manoj is central to Road. We needed his character to move the story forward. His performance is undoubtedly good.
Vivek's character is more straightforward than Manoj. But Vivek is very effective in doing what is given to him. If Vivek says Manoj has the author-backed role in Road, he is right in saying so. Because audiences must be prepared for what to expect.
Would you call Manoj the villain of the film?
Manoj is the pivotal character in Road in the way Gabbar Singh was to Sholay. That did not mean Amitabh Bachchan or Dharmendra did not perform equally well in the film.
I think the whole concept of hero, heroine and villain is going out of fashion. And about time too. It is eventually the character who holds interest.
Akshaye Khanna and Akshay Kumar, playing a negative role in Humraaz and Ajnabee respectively, aroused so much interest. No one looked at them as conventional villains, just interesting characters.
Or Ajay Devgan in my film Company. He played a negative character with no justification for being a gangster. The tendency to label characters as good or bad has become outdated. The film industry continues to believe in these labels, not the audience.
Manoj's advantage in playing the wacko character in Road is his lack of screen image. He is so versatile that he can be put into any role and can get away with it.
People see Road as your grand patch-up with Manoj.
We did not work together after Kaun. We may not work together again after Road. There is no breakup and patch-up. We are not married to each other! (laughs)
Again the press will break us up because I do not have any projects for him now. I might have something for him when I wake up tomorrow.
What do you feel about Antara Mali's performance in Road?
The kind of heroine Antara plays in Road has never been seen before. There is a latent sexuality about her character. There is nothing stereotypical about her. Her interpretation of even the most cliched situations is startling.
For example, if you see her in the song Rasta rasta you will find her completely oblivious of how she looks. She does not care how her face is distorted. She is completely true to her character. Most heroines are always conscious of the way they look. It is a refreshing change to come across an actress who is completely true to the given situation.
So you mean she is devoid of female vanity?
Yes. A lot of people compare Antara with Urmila. But I cannot imagine Antara in a regular mainstream conventional heroine's role. She cannot be seen the way we have come to expect heroines to be. That does not mean other heroines cannot be as unaffected and natural. But we just do not make films that allow such portrayals.
Antara has come at the right time. Audiences are tired of seeing heroines waltzing in the Swiss Alps. It just does not interest them any more. Antara blends in with the rugged, sandy terrain of Road.
She does not come from a filmi background. Nor is she a trained actress. The way she understands the nature of a scene instinctively is quite commendable. I think heroines now realise that wearing designer clothes and chic hairdos is not cinema.
We rarely see a Julia Roberts or Meryl Streep playing cosmetic characters. In Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts plays mother of three grown-up children without undermining her sexuality. I think that is incredible.
Our cinema is moving towards the Hollywood model. In Ek Haseena Thi produced by 20th Century Fox and my company, Antara plays an incredibly real role. It is a once in a lifetime part.
You see, in our films there are four or five stereotypes for the way a woman is presented. She is either cute and bubbly or dignified and demure. It is rare to see a woman with strong ideas and attitude. The conventional heroine is done away with in Road and Ek Haseena Thi.
Are you happy with the music of Road?
If I weren't happy with the music, it wouldn't be there. However, it is very difficult to realise, during the course of a narrative, that some songs are cutting into the narrative. For example, the song Do pyar karnewale in Jungle was out of place.
I don't think this problem is there in Road. It is a feel-good fantasy that sweeps the audience from one moment to another. It is a fantasy at some level. But the individual components from performances to background score are real.
In Satya, Jungle and Company, the camera angles and background music was subtle. The idea was to hold attention on the characters. In Company, there weren't more than two or three camera movements.
Road is the exact opposite. The technique is constantly drawing attention to various aspects of the narration. The camera and background music scream for attention. It is a highly exaggerated melodrama. A new kind of performance is invented to tell the story.
That is where Road moves away from all my previous films as well as films in general.
Is it true that you have directed most of Road?
No, Rajat Mukherjee has directed the film. But as a producer I had obviously take care to see that the film represents my vision. I was involved with the way the film shaped up.