Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma Sunday remarked that Indian filmmakers underestimate the intelligence of their audience. Citing the example of Tom Cruise’s latest spy thriller Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the director said Indian filmmakers try to cater to the “dumbest of the audience”.
“The difference between them and us is they assume the audience to be intelligent and push their intelligence further up, by making films like Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” Varma posted on X.
“On the contrary we assume the audience to be dumb and we push their dumbness further down in the hope of even reaching the dumbest of the audience by making films like ____________,” he added, highlighting the contrast between Indian filmmakers and their Hollywood counterparts.
The filmmaker did not mention any specific film, instead leaving it to the netizens to speculate.
Social media users soon flooded Varma’s post with hilarious comments. “Department, Bhoot returns, Sarkar 3, D company, Agyat etc,” wrote one user, taking a dig at Varma’s filmography.
“All your films for the past 25 years,” commented another X user. “Okay sir why are you making DUMB MOVIES Now a days?” questioned another netizen.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, The Final Reckoning released in Indian theatres on May 17, a full week before the world premiere. This is Cruise’s eighth outing as Ethan Hunt.
Backed by Paramount Pictures and Skydance, the action thriller also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny and Holt McCallany in key roles.
Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, and Frederick Schmidt round off the cast of the film, which recently received a five-minute standing at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival.
Varma’s 1998 crime drama Satya was re-released in theatres earlier this year to mark the film’s 27th anniversary. Varma also played a cameo in Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD, last year.
