Ramgopal Varma is probably the only new wave cinema director in today’s times. People talk about directors with film lineage like Aditya Chopra, Sooraj Barjatya, Mansoor Khan, Karan Johar but the only guy to actual make path-breaking films has been Ramgopal Varma. While the others have succeeded in making money-grossing potboilers!
Be it his first film Shiva (starring Nagarjuna and Amla) which exploited the idea of terrorism in everyday life or a horror flick like Raat (starring Revathy).
And of course who can forget, Rangeela, the film that resurrected Urmila’s career. And not to mention gave Jackie’s career a new lease, redefined fashion in Hindi films and also gave a break to ace choreographer Ahmed Khan.
The next on the list was Daud! The catch line of the film ’’Fun on the run’’ was what it was literally too. While some people really hated the film in its entirety, some others loved it no end.
Another feather in Ramu’s cap was Satya. A film based on the underworld in the city of Bombay. The film that saw the birth of an actor – Manoj Bajpai and also brought into Hindi films a music master, Sandeep Chowta (Sandeep’s background score for the film was for the first time marketed in the form of CDs).
The Manoj – Ramu magic worked again in the duo’s next film together, Kaun. A thriller shot in flat 16 days was yet another experiment that seemed to click within a specified audience.
After Kaun, Ramu moved again to the musical genre and made Mast. The film that gave vision to his own obsession with actress Sridevi seemed to interest the masses. But again Ramu made a contribution to the Hindi film industry in the form of two actors – Aftab Shivdasani and Antara Maali.
Jungle was yet another adventure trip where Ramu was more interested in capturing the essence of the jungle and yet managing to envelope a heartfelt love story alongwith.
This year of course will see the third part of the Shiva-Satya triology, Company. A film that talks about terrorism at an international level stars Ajay Devgan for the first time in the role of a mobster. It also introduces the much-talked about Vivek Oberoi. Yet another welcome addition to the Hindi film industry.
If one would observe Ramu’s track record one would realize the immense contribution that this techno-savvy director has made to Hindi films in terms of introducing new ideas, new plots, new shooting techniques and of course as mentioned earlier, new talent.
Coming from a non-film family, from being a student of engineering to making films, Ramu has come a long way.
Wish there were more story-tellers like him!