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His last two films may have been trashed for being poor
imitations of "Sholay" and "What Lies Beneath", but Ram Gopal Varma
confesses rather defiantly that he copies - "from everywhere"! "I
copy from Hollywood films. Not only from Hollywood I also copy from
Tollywood, Kollywood... in fact from everywhere. These days I am
copying from news channels as I am zapped by their speed," said the
man whose last two films "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag" and "Darling"
were super duds in the box office.
"When we are born, we are born with a blank mind and every idea
is actually copied from a book, a film... or somewhere," Varma told
IANS philosophically during a recent visit to Delhi.
Though he hasn't delivered any big hit recently, Varma has
memorable films like "Rangeela", "Satya", "Company" and "Sarkar"
under his belt. He is also the man to have introduced many new
talents - the list includes Manoj Bajpai, Rajpal Yadav, Isha
Koppiker and Randeep Hooda, all of whom were struggling till they
were recognised after working in his films.
Some of his protйgйs', however, like Mohit Ahlawat
whom he launched in "James", have blamed him for messing up their
careers. But the maverick director is undeterred and says these
outbursts are outcomes of their over expectations.
"If they say so they must be having some reason behind it.
Actually, newcomers have a lot of expectations. When I launch them,
I build their confidence to take the best out of them. They take me
for granted and blame me against those who never gave them a
chance," he said.
Other than Manoj and Rajpal Yadav, none of the actors launched by
him has been able to leave a lasting mark in the Hindi film
industry. The filmmaker believes success depends on an actor's
individual effort.
"Success belongs to them. I don't pitch them to make them
successful. Their potential remains the same, it is just that they
have to work hard and groom themselves with time".
If Varma doesn't shoulder the responsibility of his
protйgйs' failure, he doesn't take credit for their
success either: "I just boost their confidence and they do the rest
themselves".
In "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", the director launched Prashant Raj, a
model. Though critics have slammed the performance, Varma says he
is satisfied by Prashant's work and dismisses the belief that
working with newcomers is a strenuous job.
"Most of the time, newcomers are more prepared than veteran actors.
They do their homework properly and then come on the sets while
established actors are too busy to rehearse before they come for
shooting."
Varma's forthcoming films include "Sarkar 2", "Go" and "Dheyaya".
By Shweta Thakur
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