Ram Gopal Varma

Ram Gopal Varma used to make one gangster film after the other. Now he is on this horror trip. Why?

First of all, I don’t think Agyaat is a horror film. It’s not like a Phoonk or a Bhoot. I would rather put it in the adventure film genre. Hollywood used to make a lot of these films. Even now they make some... people getting stuck in a certain situation and something is out there to kill them. Films like Friday the 13th, Aliens, The Blair Witch Project.... The antagonist could be an animal, a creature, a psychopath killer or whatever. I thought it would be an interesting exercise if you don’t show what it is that is killing them. That way the whole dynamics of capturing the film changed. And in that way, it’s a first of its kind in Bollywood. So technically it’s not a horror film.

The main story in your very own production Darna Mana Hai had six people caught in a jungle and someone out there was killing them one by one. Is Agyaat an extension of that idea?

Yes, there were six people in a forest but they were telling stories to each other. Here there’s a physical entity out there who is killing them one by one. The only thing is the audience never gets to see it. It’s more similar to The Blair Witch Project where neither the characters nor the audience can see what it is that is attacking them. Here in Agyaat, the characters can see but the audience can’t see it. So, with the use of sound effects, background score and camera movements we have tried to create this entity.

Are you aware that a film called Chhodon Naa Yaar (Jimmy Sheirgill) has already copied The Blair Witch Project?

No, I haven’t seen it. And even Agyaat is not a copy of The Blair Witch Project. It’s the same genre. I really liked The Blair Witch Project... the concept is very unique.

What are the guys doing in the jungle in the first place?

See, this is a film unit which goes for a shoot inside the jungle. The reason I chose a film unit because there is a certain hierarchy involved. There is a star, there is an assistant director, there is a spotboy, there is a cameraman... all of them have their own rank in the team but once the fear of death arrives, all the differences are removed. Everyone becomes a basic human being. So the film is also about the change in interpersonal relationships in the face of fear.

Before the release of Bhoot, you had said that you needed familiar faces (Rekha, Nana Patekar, Victor Banerjee) because you were utilising their images. You didn’t feel a similar need with Agyaat?

You are right. For a film like Agyaat, you can’t go for conventional casting or known faces. Because the hero in the film unit turns out to be the biggest coward. So you have to cast against type and so I went for new faces. But it’s not that I have stopped working with known faces. In Rann, I am working with Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish and Paresh Rawal. I cast actors entirely on the basis of the requirement of the script.

A moment from Agyaat

Why did you have to go to Sri Lanka to shoot Agyaat?

Because if I am not going to show the central character of the film, which is the agyaat (unknown), then the location has to make up for it. I wanted a very frightening looking jungle, which is what Sigiriya was. I have been to quite a few forests in my time but I haven’t seen anything more scary than this.

Why are you persisting with Nisha Kothari even after she hasn’t delivered over so many films?

See, the point is no actor or director or technician can deliver anything. They have to fit in the role. If I can make Rangeela with Urmila, I can make Daud with the same Urmila. Eventually, why a film fails is not because of actors but because of the director’s non-clarity of what he wants to do. I am not sticking to Nisha. She wasn’t there in Contract or Phoonk. She is not even in Rann. I am working with her after two years.

You once wanted to release one film every Friday. Now you have slowed down drastically. Is it to better the quality?

It is physically impossible to release a film every Friday. It was a joke! My speed of filmmaking has always been the same. The intention will always be there to better the quality but what goes wrong in the process is anybody’s guess. We won’t know it till we release the film.

Love Aaj Kal a Friday before, Kaminey a Friday after. How will Agyaat do well?

That’s the production company UTV’s decision. But I do believe that every film has its audience. Agyaat’s genre is so different. Let the audience decide what they want to see. No director can have the audience in mind while making the film. He can only make what he is interested in and hope that there is an audience who shares his interest. You can’t target the audience because the audience is not an animal. They are individuals with different taste.