Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2001 7:27 pm
Posts: 6146
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Found it really interesting what Ram Gopal Verma said and Arsh  has been saying all along:
" Mainstream cinema is dying ," he insists. "Karan Johar and Yash Chopra are just about the only ones who can do blockbusters. Everything else is slowly breaking the formula."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 512071.cms
Just in case, the link goes stale, I'm pasting that article here, for further discussion:
'I want my films to irritate people
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2004 12:43:24 PM ]
MUMBAI: "I can't bear people who come to me saying they want to make films from the heart," says Ram Gopal Varma , his eyebrows arching to reflect his sufferance. "I'd rather make films from the groin." He pauses for effect, then continues, "I want to make films that pinch people. I don't mind irritating them, but I can't bear to make nice, cute films. Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon is the only cute film I made," he says, with a twinge of embarrassment, even surprise, at himself.
So, stand warned, all ye millions queuing up for Ramuji to produce your films—his intentions are way due south of yours.
Ramuji is the David-like gladiator of Indian cinema, fighting an overblown, decadent system. " Mainstream cinema is dying ," he insists. "Karan Johar and Yash Chopra are just about the only ones who can do blockbusters. Everything else is slowly breaking the formula."
No wonder that while the cream of Bollywood was dancing at the Sahara weddings last week, for Ramuji, it was business at usual at his forbiddingly chic Andheri office called The Factory. This, although the ink is barely dry on a joint venture between Sahara, Varma Corp Ltd and K Sera Sera to produce ten films, with Sahara bringing in Rs 35 crore. "It helps to have a reputation as an eccentric," he says with a shrug.
The eccentric is, in fact, systematically moving down the entertainment food chain—from director to producer to distributor. As he told Time magazine, "I'm in that position now, you know? (to tell distributors) 'F—-you, take it or get out." He elaborates, "I'm too tired to convince distributors all the time. The only way out is to distribute films myself. We already distributed Bhoot in Nizam (parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra) and are doing Ab Tak Chhapan in Mumbai territory." In fact, The Factory plans to distribute its own films in Mumbai and Nizam, and will have a joint venture with PVR to distribute films in the Delhi-UP territory.
The forthcoming Ab Tak Chhapan , by debut director and Bhoot editor Shimit Amin, is about police encounters and a cop, who has killed 56 people so far. Isn't there usually a sense of amorality in Ramuji's films that deal with violence? " Ab Tak Chhapan is about a cop's fake encounters," he says. "But it's a job society gives him to safeguard them from menace. Yet, we sit in the safety of our drawing rooms and pass judgment on them and that's not on. It’s irresponsible to make good and bad judgments just like that, where the good guy beats up the bad guy in the end."
So, is the challenge of directing films losing its shine? "I love to make films. But it's an illusion that a director is someone special. All you need is clarity and vision, and passion to tell a story. I don't go on the sets of the films I am producing. I'm sure Ab Tak Chhapan would be a far superior film than what I would have made because it's Shimit's vision."
Significantly, the last film he produced, Ek Hasina Thi , directed by Sriram Raghavan, was to have been co-produced and distributed by Hollywood major Twentieth Century Fox, but the deal fell through. However, Ramuji would rather look forward than look back.
Finally, what is the possibility that Mani Ratnam, Shekhar Kapur and Ram Gopal Varma, whose India Talkies had produced Ratnam's Dil Se , will collaborate again? "Shekhar is a brilliant director and Mani has a great sense of cinema aesthetics. But Mani hates my films and thinks I'm a brat. And Shekhar thinks I'm a con man. So, it won't happen again," he says firmly.
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