Ram Gopal Varma Blog #22. My Reactions to Reactions.

1. Is Phoonk a copied version of the Exorcist?

Ans: Exorcist was about demonic possession and Phoonk is about black magic. Black magic is according to legend the application of an evil force to harm or kill an enemy. So in that sense there is no similarity. But yes in the emotional aspect of the near and dear ones concerned for the affected party there is a similarity.

2. I cannot keep watching your assembly line of productions.

Ans: Don’t.

3. I think you have great ideas but not so good execution.

Ans: Teach me.

4. Would you consider changing the format or presentation of your movies?

Ans: Won’t

5. I am ready to take up the challenge of watching Phoonk alone.

Ans: I am just the Director of Phoonk and the idea of contest was the One More Thought production company’s. Since every movie has some kind of contest going on, for a film like Phoonk they thought that this kind of contest will be very apt as the film belongs to the scary genre. They are working out the technicalities of when and how to implement it. As soon as they are done with it they will post the details on a designated website.

6. A strip dancer shows all to a crowd to make a living. Shameless are those who watch.

Ans: Neither are shameless. They are consenting adults.

7. You often tend to show only what you want without thinking of how it unfolds to the audience.

Ans: You could be right. But like I always say you can’t generalize audience. What for one goes above his head, the same for the other will affect him deeply. There is a very thin line between spoon feeding and being clear.


8. What is vulgar?

Ans: Vulgarity does not exist except in the mind because anything and everything is there for a predetermined purpose. The way one chooses to look and think and feel about it is what which differs. The mode of presentation of anything to a receiver is actually what programmes him to feel in a certain way. A woman’s body is the same. If it’s back-lit it’s called erotica, and if it’s front-lit it’s called porn. If you are seeking intense gratification you would want to see hard core front lit sex and mere erotica won’t suffice it. I remember that in my teens reading a porn magazine with provocative titles and bad paper and bad grammar used to arouse me. I don’t think reading it in a hard bound well-written smart and profound looking books will serve the same purpose.

A feeling can be neither vulgar nor aesthetic. A feeling is a feeling.

9. Do you think you can ever take the idea of Daud and make it work again?

Ans: Yes, because ideas are never wrong. Only their implementation and execution can be.

10. I think Shimit Amin is brilliant and he won’t take up a project like Gayab.

Ans: This only tells how brilliant you are. If you read my article once again you will realize that I was not talking about Shimit’s or anybody else’s brilliance but only about how non-brilliant I am.

11. I think you just got hurt with the failures of your recent films and you wrote that article “Everybody is a nobody”.

Ans: I said what I wanted to say and you can think whatever makes you happy. Like the philosopher Nietzsche said “There are no facts, only interpretations”.