In the tenth and last episode of The Filmy Hustle, hosted by distributor-exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap came together for the first time for an interview and as expected, they went down memory lane and raised interesting points on filmmaking like never before. RGV opened up on Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007), a remake of Sholay (1975). Many consider it to be his worst film.
RGV admits he was not convinced about Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag: “Amitabh Bachchan’s look was not relatable but Big B loved it”; shares hilarious anecdote that viewers felt Amitabh’s laugh sounded like cough: “A moviegoer said, ‘It looks like he has fever’”
Ram Gopal Varma explained what went wrong saying, “My thought was that there is an old man, who is peacefully living in Khandala. His son is killed by a gang. Now that old man, after having built everything, is humiliated in this manner, and he can’t do anything about it. He manages to catch a shooter and offers him money to go after the one who murdered his son.”
He added, “Now this, more or less, was the same plot as Sholay. It was my first thought. I mentioned it to some people I know. One of them brought me a picture of what Gabbar should look like. Amitabh Bachchan once told me that he always wanted to do Gabbar’s role. That look seemed bad and didn’t seem believable at all. But all the people around me said, ‘It’s fantastic’! I reasoned that it was not looking relatable. They replied, ‘At that time, Gabbar Singh was a nobody. But now he’s like an icon’.”
He confessed, “I wasn’t too sure. Nevertheless, I showed the look to Mr Bachchan. He also loved it. Now, an actor does what he does for different reasons. By then, we had worked in Sarkar (2005). He had developed a trust in me and assumed what I was talking about. He would have assumed, ‘Isne kuch socha hoga’.”
RGV continued, “When Amitabh Bachchan was also on, I thought that maybe I was having a mental block. During the filming, I was interpreting shot by shot and line by line. I got carried away and forgot the basic emotions of the film. Hence, it became a caricature.”
Ram Gopal Varma then revealed the biggest issue with Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. “Amitabh Bachchan’s character was laidback and his laughter was also designed accordingly,” he said. “When the film was released, a senior police officer called me and said, ‘Why is Amitabh Bachchan coughing? It looks like he has fever’! What he said was absolutely correct (laughs). In my head, he had a laidback laugh but the viewer thought it was a cough.”
He also said, “Meanwhile, the cases started getting filed. At the last minute, the court said that I couldn’t use the word ‘Sholay’. The nearest thing to Sholay was Aag.”
Ram Gopal Varma ended his answer by remarking, “I never put more effort into any film than Aag. I know nobody would believe it but it’s okay (smiles).”
More Pages: Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag Box Office Collection , Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag Movie Review
BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES
Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection, New Movies Release , Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood Live News Today & Upcoming Movies 2025 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.