Interview: Ram Gopal Verma
By: Sima Malhotra
Have an axe to grind with your daily news outlet and wish you had the money to make a film bashing the media’s very sensationalist existence?
Well, if you have beef with the media but do not have millions of dollars lying around to create and market a film to express your opinions to a wide audience, perhaps you do have enough funds in your wallet or purse to purchase a ticket to watch Ram Gopal Varma’s Rann. After all, he did have the finances to fund a media-bashing film and, heck, if you watch his movie, you just might find his thoughts in sync with yours.
So what, exactly, is Varma trying to say in Rann, you ask? Well, in an interview with Reuters earlier this week, the filmmaker carefully chose his words in saying that his film is all about the reality of what goes on behind the scenes in how outlets relay information to their audiences.
“It does expose the media, but that doesn’t mean in a bad light,” Varma told Reuters. “I have tried to show the reality of media that includes all the aspects of it. Media today has become a reflection of the society, and Rann…showcases certain aspects of it. It’s a drama set against the backdrop of media.”
In making his showcase, Varma made every effort to present a no-holds-barred story, allowing audiences to think deeply about the role of media in today’s society. With that, Varma had no qualms about making a film in an opinionated manner that may, perhaps, alienate certain factions of the populace.
“I have an affinity for hard-hitting films, and any film which has a subject like this needs to take a hard look at, which is the whole point of making a film anyway,” Varma said in his published interview this week. “With a subject like the media, it is something that pervades our day-to-day lives to such an extent. From the time you get up, it is on and you are being told what is happening, what you should feel about it, what you should think about. It is a subject of a serious matter and has to be dealt with in that manner.”
Naturally, Varma took his portrayal of such a story in a very serious manner that was as truthful as possible and, to that end, he made every effort to present all aspects and sides of his story with certain multifaceted realness.
“I have shown it the way it is. The media is not a singular entity,” Varma frankly stated to Reuters, saying he wanted to present all sides of the issue instead of bashing only the media while failing to point fingers at others who may be equally as guilty of the negativity the filmmaker believes surrounds news and gossip outlets.
“I have taken feelers from what I have seen on TV. It is talking about certain aspects in the media which is based on real events. It is not a comment on the media as a whole.”
Of course, he has his own personal experiences with the media, just by virtue of living in a world where everyone is bombarded with content through television, the Internet, radio, cinema, advertisements and the like. Many of those experiences are on display in Rann, and Varma described the feeling he often has when interacting with today’s Indian media.
“I get entertained, I get shocked, I get amazed, and sometimes I find it ridiculous — it all depends on what kind of news is presented to me and in what form,” he humbly said. “Also, sometimes there is so much insensitivity with which they can ridicule people, whether they are politicians or film stars. They bring so much discomfort and embarrassment, and yet they seem to do it with enjoyment rather than just putting it the way it is. It is like a group of hounds attacking someone. That is shocking.”
Hopefully Varma was able to capture that shock value and found an effective way to demonstrate it on the big screen with his latest project of Rann, which features an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Gul Panag, Suchitra Krishnamurthy and Neetu Chandra.
To find out if you will be shocked by Rann – or if you will instead be in complete accord with Varma’s opinions — be sure to hit the theaters this weekend, as the film opens on January 29th.
