Ram Gopal Varma Blog #188. My Reactions to Reactions

1. How did you first happen to read Fountainhead?
Ans: Satyendra asked me to.

2. Do you celebrate each living moment?
Ans: I live the moment and celebrate its outcome.

3. You make bad or good movies based on the circumstances, your mind and your mood at that time.
Ans: You are absolutely correct and also remember that I wouldn’t know whether it will be bad or good till it gets released. By the way Neo, I completely agree and love all your views on America and why some are more important than others. Just ignore and forgive the ones who criticized your views on this blog as they have neither your intellectual nor analytical capacity.

4. Contrary to what you say I don’t think that you are selfish considering the number of people you have given break to.
Ans: The term “giving break to” can be only used when I did the film for the sake of him/her. But if I am using him/her for the sake of the film that can’t be called as giving a break to him/her. To make that film and to create that character or that piece of work whether it’s of music or photography etc is my primary goal and I use whoever I think is best at that moment and that’s why I call myself selfish.

5. Every character of yours has a flavour of Howard Roark or a Keating or a Wynand or some other characters of Ayn Rand’s.
Ans: That’s because in Fountainhead Ayn Rand took her characters from prototypes of every kind of people that exist in the world. So if I am making a film about people who exist in the world then  there are bound to be similarities.

6. I fell in love with your blog but I am unable to express it.
Ans: You did.

7. In Rakta Charitra are you going to have a disclaimer that all characters are fictional?
Ans: I am going to have a disclaimer stating “This film is a fictional account of a true story and is also a very truthful representation of fictional characters”. 
8. Story telling is the art… after all the world has seen less than a dozen original stories.
Ans: I know only 2 stories and that too not fully. That is also the reason most of my movies come out half baked.

9. You are an embodiment of sarcasm and I believe sarcasm is anger’s ugly cousin.
Ans: I am never sarcastic though my reactions might make me appear so. I intensely mean every word of what I say and that makes me much more worse than being just sarcastic.

10. I think you are just a human and susceptible to human emotions.
Ans: You can believe whatever you would like to believe but I believe that I am God (of my own world).

11. You are insane but I think you are better than us who are programmed.
Ans: Insanity is the inability of the mind to adjust to reality. Under that definition I am far from being insane and you programmed guys are far more insaner than me. But since you atleast have reached a point of understanding about being programmed you could very well be on your way to be nearly as insane as me.

12. Can you explain what you mean by saying “directing judgements and explanations”?
Ans: I meant as in through the course of telling the story the director is directing the viewers mind to perceive the various judgements and explanations in the film in a certain specific way to suit his convenience.

13. Can you post the uncensored scene of Govinda Govinda?
Ans: I can’t because it was not saved.

14. What did you mean about the great imagination regarding Hurt Locker?
Ans: Avatar is eventually an understandable feat of tremendous imagination. Extraordinary design elements of various artistes combined with the patience and passion of Cameron made it possible. Whereas with Hurt Locker I can’t even begin to think how a director can begin to imagine the emotional states of people trapped in a war zone with such a seeming authenticity. I have never been into a war zone but Bigelow made me believe that this is how it would be.

15. If the audience can relate to the protagonist and the antagonist agreeing with their disagreements in Rakta Charitra then you would have made your point.
Ans: I see your point but the point of Rakta Charitra is that it’s not about a protagonist and antagonist. Circumstances created Ravi and then Ravi created circumstances from which Suri rose and hence the cycle continues.

16. You blog can’t teach us anything. It can only make us think.
Ans: Nobody can teach anyone nor can anyone make anyone think. The change has to come from within your assumed core value systems and that change will come due to a variety of experiences you will go through in your life of which my thoughts on this blog could be just one.

17. Differentiate between Howard Roark and you?
Ans: The difference between him and us is the difference between aspiration and how much we are willing to emotionally and intellectually perspire. In varying degrees we are all Howard Roarks but none of us can ever become Howard Roark. The secret of winning in life is not in becoming Howard Roark but it’s about understanding Howard Roark, and yes I understood him much more than anyone else I have known.

18. When you reach a level of complete understanding will you erase your memory and start your analyzing process again?
Ans: The only complete understanding that anyone can ever reach is that there can never be a complete understanding.

19. Will you ever make a film on politics?
Ans: Most of the films I made are on politics. For example “Company” is about underworld politics and “Sarkar” is about family politics. But, yes, I will someday make a film about politicians politics also.

20. Can you describe Wynand, Toohey, Keating and Roark in one line?
Ans: 1. Wynand has a Roark in him but he does not know it himself.
2. Toohey has a Roark inside him, that he both hates and is scared of.
3. Keating knows that he can never ever have a Roark in him.
4. Roark is a man who managed to kill all the Wynands, the Tooheys and the Keatings inside him.

21. Why do we blame others when we fail?
Ans: Because blaming yourself can result in loss of identity especially if you don’t have the intelligence to understand your failure. Most blame others as they can still hope and they will be very happy in doing so because they won’t know that their hope is false due to the lack of their intelligence.

22. Why do people try to impress others?
Ans: Because that’s the only way they can feel alive and also feel that they matters in the scheme of things.

23. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
Ans: And most men don’t realize the above three points.

24. I am fascinated by Ramuism and I am looking at things differently now.
Ans: Don’t ever look at things. Feel them with your emotions and understand them with your intelligence. It’s only then that they can truly become a part of you.

25. What is the purpose of life?
Ans: If you are asking this question you will not hear the answer.

26. If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in him. But if he does exist one will lose everything by not believing.
Ans: That’s a great point, Sneha.

27. More than a director, you are a philosopher. More than a philosopher you are a psychologist.
Ans: And more than anything else I am just a brat having loads of fun.

28. Anger is an emotion which takes the form of a desire to repay past suffering caused by others.
Ans: I would say that what you are saying is the definition of revenge. The visible aspect of anger is stupid and weak because it exposes itself and hence alert the opponent.

“Revenge is a dish which tastes best when it is cold”. – a line from the Godfather.

29. “Human good does not require human sacrifices and cannot be achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. There is no conflict of interests among men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices or accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value”. – Ayn Rand.
Ans: Well, Raju, why do you think I love Ayn Rand? And now I love you too for understanding what you quoted of her.

30. Which was the first novel you read?
Ans: “No Orchids for Miss.Blandish” – James Hadley Chase.

31. Most people here on this blog forget to acknowledge what you are and just indulge in petty talk and being mean.
Ans: Sonia, the world consists of various species of conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious beings and all of them think that they are alive in one way or the other. But most of them are actually dead even before they are born and their genetic defects combined with their frustrations and their various and varied rabid strains of extremely superior inferiority complexes make them bark, sting and crawl all over here. But as long as I myself have made a choice to come into this world, then along with the beautiful swans and peacocks in here I also have to bear with the cockroaches and the caterpillars.

32. If everyone had a job they loved, entertainment as a concept wouldn’t have been born.
Ans: A pretty interesting observation. Now let me sign off and think about it.