Ram Gopal Varma, the director who revolutionized Telugu cinema with Shiva, went on to deliver several hits after that. With his distinct style in horror and gangster films, he made his mark. In a recent interview with Big TV, he shared insights on some of the highlight scenes from his movies and discussed the changes in film production in recent times.
He mentioned, “While Shiva had action, it did not feature excessive bloodshed. It’s true that over time, bloodshed on screen has increased. Showing the hero as a criminal is not a new trend; Amitabh Bachchan did many films like that. As for the budget, it doesn’t necessarily determine a film’s success. If the content is strong, even a small-budget film will draw an audience.”
He further added, “Producers invest in films with the belief that they will make a return. If the film doesn’t perform as expected, even if the producer suffers a loss, I believe the money goes into the pockets of those who worked on the film. I don’t accept that ‘KGF‘ is a hit because the hero is involved in gold smuggling, or that Pushpa 2 is a hit due to red sandalwood smuggling. There have been instances where good films didn’t succeed.”
He recalled a conversation with someone who was upset about their good film not performing well. “I told them, ‘A good film is different from a film about good people.’ KGF is not a film about good people, it’s a film about bad people. But it’s a good movie because it was a hit. Watching a good film can be boring. If you’re constantly criticizing the thumb, who will watch it? But if you’re praising it, who would watch that?” he laughed.
