Ram Gopal Varma: There is no Sarkar without Amitabh Bachchan

Will the director be open to working with them?
“Both of them will give me one kick first! But if you are asking about working with them, the way their image is right now and their mannerisms – I don’t make that kind of films.”

About characters in his films
Ram Gopal Verma has given the Indian film industry some of the best characters in terms of those who hold power, both protagonist and antagonist. So when we talk about what goes into choosing actors for his characters and how he designs characters, RGV said, “I am naturally attracted to power. So I make these films. When it comes to choosing an actor for my characters, suitability plays an important role. I imagine a character, and pick actors to portray these characters who are closest to real people.”

Amitabh Bachchan as Subhash Nagre in Sarkar series
We asked him if it wasn’t the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan playing the role of Subhash Nagre (Sarkar), who would he have cast. Without batting his eyes, he replied, “There wouldn’t be Sarkar. There are some films where you cannot write a script and then look for the actor. If it wasn’t for Amitabh Bachchan, I wouldn’t have made Sarkar.”

On National Awards being juvenile
“My views about acting are very different. Because for me to judge an actor is in itself fundamentally wrong! All actors do different roles and it’s a part of the script, so how can you judge an actor who did this role and another actor who did another role? You can compare performances, if two actors portray the same role, and then judge who’s done better. In my opinion, people who don’t know films do this! There are so many things that go into making the film and the actors work for the film in totality. How can an external body judge a film, when people working on the film would also find it difficult to judge their films. Looking at how an actor has performed in the film, or which film is better is juvenile. When and what I spoke about Aamir Khan in the last fifteen is based on the fact that in the last 20 years he has become the most commercially successful and most critically acclaimed actor, who is anybody to give him an award? The whole National Award committee put together are a thousand times lesser than Aamir, who are they to decide?”

On what he thinks brought his downfall
“In the last few films I have made I was criticised for not paying attention to the scripts. Actually, I never followed scripts, it was more instinctive. But just when I started following scripts in 2006, I kind of lost it, and maximum flops happened after that.” The Rangeela director then emphasised on the fact that once he started modelling a script and following it, he started losing the passion.

He then added, “It is not possible for filmmakers to make movies only after being 100 percent sure about their scripts. If that was the case then why are 95 percent of the films made unsuccessful? When a filmmaker follows a script, they lose objectivity, it becomes mechanical after some time.”

Also read | Amitabh Bachchan leaves Sarkar 3 promotions to rush to Vinod Khanna’s family

Remakes and why he will never do what he did to Sholay
RGV really is a good sport. When we asked him if he would want to remake any other film, the way he did Sholay, he said, “Main aur koi film ki itni beizzati nahi karunga fir se!” This is the man who goes on social media and rants, who then accepts his mistakes, but never minces words when it comes to expressing his thoughts​ and views.

Sarkar 3 starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy, Manoj Bajpayee and Amit Sadh is all set to release on May 12, 2017.