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'Bollywood dreams are a hoax'
Ramu pricks Bollywood's bubble in a tete-a-tete with Saibal Chatterjee.
Sarkar is still playing in the theatres, My Wife's Murder has the hit the screens and James is waiting to peddle his wares. Ram Gopal Varma's Factory is clearly on a roll. But the man behind the show isn't getting carried away. In an exclusive interview to hindustantimes.com, Ramu revels in pricking Bollywood's bubble
The Hindi films that have clicked so far this year - Black, Page 3, Parineeta and Sarkar -- have all been rather offbeat. Are we seeing a revolution in the making?
I don't think so. The success of these films proves nothing. It's only a coincidence. It'll take just one Hum Aapke Hain Koun kind of film to blow it all away.
What do you make of Bollywood's supposedly growing global reach?
It's complete hogwash. It's at best a pipedream. Where are we on the world stage? It's typical of our psyche - we keep praising ourselves and claim triumphs that we haven't even achieved in real terms.
What's wrong with our cinema?
We still make hopelessly regressive films. Let's be honest, in terms of technique, approach and discipline, we are still way behind the rest of the world. In the West, Bollywood films are still seen as a joke, as kitschy exotica.
So is crossover cinema merely a figment of our imagination?
It is. Just because one Lagaan has gone to the Oscars or one Monsoon Wedding has grossed $15 million in the US, can we claim that Bollywood has conquered the world? Let's be realistic. To be honest, I still can't figure out what it is about Monsoon Wedding that enthused American audiences.
Since your own films are stylistically close to Hollywood, shouldn't you promote them globally?
I grew up admiring Hollywood films. So the influence is understandable. But only style can't be enough. Our films don't have anything in terms of substance that can appeal to global audiences.
What should our cinema strive for in order to make that happen?
Does anybody really know the answer? When I watched the Exorcist, it scared me out of my mind. But when I saw the film again years later in the US, I found the audience rolling over with laughter. They obviously found the film too slow and funny. So nobody really knows what is going to appeal to whom. The movie market is like a bookstore, which offers all kinds of books. People have specific tastes. They will pick up what they relate to.
Films from the Factory that you have personally directed are the only ones that seem to have succeeded. Why have films made by your protégés fallen short?
That's not true. I have also made flops. Last year, Ab Tak Chappan, Vaastu Shastra and Gayab made more money than Naach. It's a fallacy to say that only my films click.
There was a time when directors were groomed over a period of time. Is it really necessary to throw your assistants into the deep end of the pit so early in their careers?
Some people think filmmaking is the preserve of a select few. It's not. I am out to prove that. In the past, the tools of filmmaking weren't easily available. Today anybody with a story and a vision can pick up a DV camera and make a film. So what are we talking about?
Is it also true that you keep a tight rein on the films that are helmed by your assistants?
The answer is no if the implication is that I interfere too much. I am involved at the story and script level. Then I leave the making of the film entirely to the director although I might come back into the picture at the final cut stage.
