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PROJEKT iVIEW : RGV or what industry musclemen getaway with
iView Author:
SANTOSH (Bombay, India)
EMAIL:
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I guess I would be among the first voices of dissent against the great maverick RGV, but bear with me till the end of the post and correct me if I am genuinely wrong. Satya floored me like so many others, which is undoubtedly one of the most groundbreaking films in recent memory. Kaun, a nice attempt to deviate from conventions and a few years later Company, followed the masterpiece. But sometime later I started losing my awe of the man.
Now let me admit by saying I know nothing of films or it’s making, this post is purely a viewpoint of a lay audience, but which RGV himself would agree is also surely one that matters. I am not among the people who buy the argument, “I don’t make films for anyone but myself”. I think it’s a ridiculous statement, a copout. By that logic, one can be satisfied by seeing the film in their own heads, why does one need a crew of thousand, cast, technicians, and millions of Rupees to make it happen? It is purely because we have urge to connect with our like-minded people, tell them what we think of something. More than anything a director makes a film because he wants to tell a story, any story and by very definition this means he is at the service of the story and not the other way round. Once I was at a book release with Javed Akhtar as the chief guest and one of the things he said was “any good and honest story beyond a point becomes self-generating and the creator merely follows where it leads him”, right or wrong I strongly believe in that philosophy.
The Problem according to me with RGV is that somewhere in the recent past he became bigger than his work. Every time he walked on to the set, a voice in him went “I RGV am shooting this scene” and because of that the story or the scene couldn’t manage to shoot or direct itself. This view trickled down to the way he saw his audience – anything I show them, they will see. I am after all RGV. This I could see in every project he took up or is taking up, be it, Shiva, Naach, Nishabd, RGV ki Aag, Darling, etc. All of them (I’m sure of the unreleased films as well, pardon my arrogance), made me angry, they insulted and ridiculed me for respecting his name and buying a ticket to watch the film.
Anurag Kashyap on the other hand, (I had the privilege of meeting him once) surprised me with his humility. This man refuses to be a victim of his long-delayed success. There is no feeling of ‘Fuck you guys I did it on my terms, I’m god’. Here was a man who while spoke freely of views good or bad just like RGV but remained extremely subservient to his work, forever indebted to the art of filmmaking to have made it accessible to him. And let’s face it the work speaks for itself. I am well aware that Anurag himself worships RGV and considers him to be a gifted filmmaker (which I don’t deny myself), but Anurag if you have read this, I would like to know if I’m honestly wrong in my anger towards RGV.
Last but not the least, I myself admire RGV for what he was and which is why it hurts more to see the work he churns out today. Undeniably you are among the most fertile creative minds in the country, but I’m sorry Ramu Sir, you will have to give a lot more to bring me back to the theatre for an RGV film.
Sincerely hoping it isn’t too long.
22 Responses to “PROJEKT iVIEW : RGV or what industry musclemen getaway with”
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people who have had the oppurtunity to work closely with him will always look up to him..he was my school.. but that RGV doesn’t exist anymore.. today he thinks marketing is the game..and he likes to believe he is the marketing whizkid.. there is a lot i have to say about the man..but i guess it’s not the right time..
i sincerely hope he quits and goes back to reopen his library and be the filmbuff again atleast for two years and come back and then make films, then probably he will generate many more like us..
he is not the same man who made satya..
Power corrupts and power in Company of Sarkar corrupts absolutely.
OZ/Anurag,
Whatever you say, you can not deny that when Hindi Movies were hitting the nadir by constant and cordial efforts of YR and K-JOs ,RGV was the only Howard Roark to stand his ground. As Indian music will forever be grateful to A R Rahman so will be Indian movies to RGV.
Anurag has said that “he is not the same man who made Satya”, I beg to differ by arguing that if Anurag starts doing the docu-drama style movies for all his subsequent releases, the respect he enjoys today post Black Friday will mitigate evntually. In Indian movie industry ,very unfortunately, change is the only constant for moviemakers like RGVs.People with a constant style can range from Andrei Tarkovsky to (!)Karan Johar. Whereas, Tarkovsky never had the opportunity to work for Bollywood, whatever comes out of K-Jo’s corp can be compared to Rakhi Sawant’s interpretation of Lady Mcbeth and which at least to me is something like a movie only a few lightyears away.
RGV was and is still ahead of the game maybe that explains the failure of ‘Amerros Perros-esque’ “Darna Mana Hain” or “fountainhead-for-mass’ ‘NAACH’.
To conclude, I would like to share another moment from a so called dud of RGV , ‘Daud’ where the charachter building scene of CHUCKO(played by Neeraj Vohra)parallels to Rabi Ghosh’s entry in Satayajit Ray’s ‘Jana-Aranya’and nothing less than that.
Regards,
Cubicle Bound Misfit
Anurag,
I beg to differ with your statement,”he is not the same man who made satya.” In Indian movie industry, change is the only constant for moviemakers like RGV. People with a constant style can range from Andrei Tarkovsky to(!) Karan Johar. But,while Tarkovsky never had the opportunity to work in Bollywood, what makes K-Jo’s constant style something to be defined as movie is as much hard for me to interpret as Rakhi Sawant’s reprisal of Nargis’ role in ‘Mother India’.
RGV was and is the true Howard Roark of Indian movie industry.In a time when Indian movies were hitting a nadir, thanks to constant and cordial efforts of YR and K-JO, he was the sole warrior to bring out a plethora of different genres.The problem today, as I conceive it, is the fact that he has broken his cell as an independent and poor man’s director and churning out wonderful works with big names.Ten years from now, Anurag if we see a certain Khan or Bacchan working with you, the same backlash can be expected.
If we really take a neutral, unbiased look at RGV’s creations it won’t be hard to find the gems and diamonds he has offerred us (and most of the time never gettin’ his dues), for which Indian movie and moviefans should praise him instead of rebuttal.
regards,
Cubicle Bound Misfit
I concur. In fact, I think many RGV fans are starting to realize that something’s gone amiss, somewhere along the way, he’s … lost it, really. And I too am quite sure that RGV Ki Aag will be crap and I have no inclination to give it a watch. The thing with RGV seems that he’s awfully moody. So for every Shiva (the new one) he makes, he also makes a Sarkar (which was quite decent).
I guess, like AK mentioned, just like a non-performing sportsman, he needs to be dropped and go back and work on his game (a la Ganguly! ;)).
After Shiva2 debacle RGV once said he has realized his mistakes…he said he was surrounded by wrng ppl…who gave wrong inputs…
Then came Nishabd after a longggg time…movie had no soul although good performnces n the subject being handled cleverly…
but I still believe he can bring back the golden days…
RGV’s greatest achievement: The chracters he creates r remebered for a long time…whther its jagga bhai, bhiku mhatre, chandu nagre, even small characters like chandu mote with his jokes…(credit also goes to writers like anurag sir..)
RAMU has this penchant of doing timepass!!! in between if you observe his track record healways made in betweek classics,,,,this time the DUDs r going long,,,,,,,,,,,,,hope he come back to his real FORTE ramu with vengeance
SHIVA OLD SATYA, KAUN, etc r path breakin movies,,even SARKAR was a decent adapatation!!! it remined me of once of those KOREAN movie MR vengs…revenge from da OLD BOY TRILOGY,,where non-dialogues based longshots with more emphasis on Expression..
As much I agree with your post, I don’t think you should have brought Anurag in the post and compared with RGV. As a director RGV is much senior than Anurag and people do change over time with success.
I believe Ramu’s Aag would be a decent effort (like Sarkar) in the end as I hope he has saved a lot for the actual film and showing the worst parts of the film in the promo’s…
and I think the USP of Aag would be the scenes between Big B and Mohan Lal and I plan to see the film for only those few frames..
Pavan
A good insight of RGV’s Aag is provided in an inteview of RGV today at Rediff..
“For me, Ramesh Sippy made an extraordinary classic — and I owe every rupee I earned and every bit of fame to Sholay, in one way or another. So it’s not one-upmanship. I just feel that the original thoughts and characters and ideas were so unique, why not apply a technique we have available today? I want to update it. My intention is to pay respect to it, not to better it or say, ‘I didn’t like the old one, now I’ll show you guys what Sholay’s all about’ (laughs).
I truly believe I’m the biggest fan of Sholay — more than anybody else, and bigger than Ramesh Sippy himself. He made it and conceived it, but I spent lots of days waiting in line with hardly any money in my pocket, trying to watch his film. ”
http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2007/aug/28slid1.htm
Am not going to add to this discussion though I feel Bollywood is all the more richer having RGV around than not.
But have you noticed in the last few movies, Sarkar, Nishabd and now even Aag seem to have scenes where the camera always seems to be two inches away from the actors face…??!!!
I mean, it seemed to work in Sarkar a bit. It definitely didn’t in Nishabh where I would have preferred more air between the actors and myself and I am not looking forward to those close close ups in Aag as well. Did RGV get a favorite cameramen for these movies? It seems to have become a trademark shooting style which I don’t prefer too much. Anyone else here feel the same?
For whatever its worth, I think we shouldnt write him off yet. One reason I could see the quality suffering is because he is operating Factory like a Public Company and is answerable to his share holders. He needs to keep making profit, and you can do that only by making more and more movies per year. In the process I guess the quality is suffering. Lets say he makes 2 movies per year to maintain the quality, he may earn 20 crores profit if its decent. But this carries a lot of risk if both or one of them bomb at box office. However if he makes 6 movies per year the risk is distributed and overall he will definetely earn his 20 crores anyway even if most of them bomb.
Afterall movie making is a buisness. If we keep on thinking of ART, we’ll be stuck writing blogs on PFC and ranting about everything bad in Bollywood :)
By the way these days I like reading/watching RGVs interviews more than his movies.
Great post OZ. To say that I am big big fan of RGV would be a gross understatement. I am obsessed with him might be a correct statement and I am sure there are many many people out there like me and your post connects with all of us..
RGV is going against the very principles that he established in telugu film industry back in 90s…his pure arrogance was clearly apparent in almost all of his new movies..Sarkar was the worst..(shiva 2006 was a little better for me)..I couldn’t imagine ramu screwing up godfather so badly ..the very movie that inspired many of his better movies..
As somebody mentioned earlier…I too enjoy his interviews more than his movies now..
wit u r saying is true,but its also a fact that RGV is the only director who has inspired ppl in their 20’s and who are not from filmy families that they can tell their stories the way they want to tell,just have a look at the interviews of any new director or technician and first name they will say is RGV ,i think it will be true even after 50 yrs ,other directors may have won more awards,their movies may have made more more but RGV’s impact goes beyond all this,RGV is the original howard roark of bollywood
Sorry, I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but there is a question on the PFC buzz whether Aag is showing in Southern California. It is being shown at the Laemmle Fallbrook 7 theater in West Hills for the week starting Aug. 31. You can get the showtimes from the theater’s website.
Even i don’t know if this is right place to post this,still taking a risk i just wanna say RGV’s Aag sucks..I don’t even feel like writing a whole review..I don’t know where to start and how to start and what could be the end..It could be one of the biggest spoofs in annals of Hindi Cinema!
Once ramu himself said that there are no favorite filmmaker’s for him. but there are favorite fims for him. so guys i believe this. ramu made great movies like Shiva, satya, company and sarkar. but one thing here is right that his lost his touch. but lets hope best from future.
Raja sen review on “RGV ki aag”
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/aug/31aag.htm
raja sen is a moron of the highest order. He has a vendetta against ajay devgan that’s why he has slated rgv’s aag.
Kill Bill was viewed as an tribute to hong kong action flicks and the same way rgv’s aag should be viewed as an tribute to sholay.
I don’t know if it must be viewerd as a tribute. Personally, it ought to be seen as standalone, but look which flick RGV has attempted to remake - Sholay, a flawless masterpiece.
In the meaintime, I’m trying to figure out what made Raja Sen praise Devgan in Omkara, considering that he ‘has a vendetta’ … http://www.rediff.com/movies/2006/aug/02rs.htm
Well, the article reflects everything what I wrote in one of my articles few months back.
Ramuji “Satiya gaye hain”! By the way, thats what happens when you start dealing in big money, you lose focus.
If ramu did not have a factory, did not have adlabs or Q sera tripping on their asses to give him millions, he would have concentrated more on good cinema. It’s not ramu’s fault, it’s the corporates which are to be blamed. He tasted the blood of big money, easy heroines…well…that’s the way the cookie crumbles.