RGV's Next Is a Movie About Black Magic!

"'Phoonk' is all about black magic. I am working with a new team. It's a subject I want to experiment with images and with characters. I can do that only with new people," he told us in an interview.

"Stars have certain baggage because of their stardom and their limitations about how far they can push their character," explained Varma.

"Also, I don't give chances to people, I take chances," maintained the director who premiered his much-talked about 'Sarkar Raj', starring Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend.

He also showcased his next release 'Contract' on Saturday.

How is 'Contract' different from his other films?

"'Contract' is a basically about underworld-meets-terrorism," Varma replied. "I didn't deal with this link in my earlier films. 'Satya' gave an inside view of the underworld, 'Company' was an overview of its organisational structure.

"In 'Contract', I speak about what can happen when the underworld and terrorists come together on a platform."

The film will be released in July.

Asked how he sourced information for his underworld dramas, Varma said: "I mostly get information from the media. The media keeps reporting about what is happening and I just have to pick pieces from here and there and join it all together.

"I am interested in anything larger than life and people who create an impact, whether negative or positive. I am interested in doing a psychological study of these people," he added.

Lately, the director has been ridiculed for making films like 'James' and 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag', but he says he makes film for his personal satisfaction and thus is not bogged down by criticism.

"I don't feel anything (about the criticism). I have a lot of fun while making a film. I enjoy every minute of it. I make films for my personal satisfaction.

"I am a storyteller. I have a story, various actors, situations and locations and I compile them all together to create a visual impact. That is my high in life," Varma maintained.

A lot has been said about three Bachchans in 'Sarkar Raj' but that's no big deal for Varma.

"I don't have this sense of achievement that I brought the three Bachchans together. For me, they are three separate and highly professional actors.

"Whether they are in one family or not doesn't make a difference to me," Varma contended.

Ram Gopal Varma Starts to Blog!

After actors Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, it is now the turn of ace director Ram Gopal Varma to be bitten by the blog bug.

Blogging is fun, says Varma, who had sworn he would never blog. 'But blogging sounded like so much fun. It sounded like a very naughty activity,' Varma, who started his blog site rgvzoomin.com this week, told IANS.

'Besides, everyone who is worth anything these days is blogging. I couldn't be left out, could I?' reasons the man who loves to do the unpredictable.

Varma admits he was influenced by Amitabh. In fact, the mega star urged the director to take the plunge.

'At first I laughed off the very thought of starting my own blog. I kept wondering how Amitji would sustain the blog on a day-to-day basis. Then I saw how passionately devoted he was to it. I grew interested,' said Varma, who is set to release his 'Sarkar Raj' June 6.

The political thriller features Amitabh along with his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.

However, Varma makes it very clear that his intentions and purpose for starting a blog are very different from the Big B.

'The Big B's big blog is a full on day-to-day affair. He talks about his day-to-day activities. I think he basically sees it as a platform to express his thoughts unhampered and to communicate his thoughts with his audience. I won't be going to rgvzoomin.com every day.

'I've neither the urge to tell the world what I'm doing with my private space nor the time or patience. And catch me carrying a laptop to my set to indulge my mental blog. I lose my cellphone every month. I'd have to spend a fortune buying new laptops.'

Here, then is the blog's raison d'etre for Varma.

'It's to express my thoughts on my films. For instance, everyone thought 'Nishabd' was based on 'Lolita' when it was not. If I had my blog at that time, I could've explained why it wasn't 'Lolita'. At the moment I'm taken up with 'Sarkar Raj'. So I've started by sharing my thoughts on 'Sarkar Raj'. Next, I'll start discussing my other new film 'Contract'.'

Does the presence of the print medium now become redundant for Varma?

'Not at all. I'll be carrying on a conversation with myself on the blog. The process of thought expression becomes very different when questions are thrown at you. I don't see my blog as a substitute for interviews. And I think my calculated quotable quotes would go to waste if I were to put them on my blog.'

How often will Varma visit his blog?

'Certainly not every day. I'll have someone to monitor the inputs and if I think a query needs to be answered, I'll do so.'

Source: IANS