Varma's Company: beyond
the rumour-mills

Ram Gopal Varma finally breaks the suspense about his new production, Company; it will be
on the murky Mumbai underworld once again,
says Subhash K Jha



Ram Gopal Varma throws up surprises with every new film. Varma, easily one of India's most enterprising directors, is almost ready with his new film. Titled Company, the film returns to the murky and terrifying realm of the underworld that he had delved into in Satya. "Satya was more concerned with portraying the position of individuals in the underworld. This film takes a macro look at the whole situation," Ramu said, speaking about the film for the first time yesterday.

The buzz is that it's certainly the most expensive and expressive film in Ramu's (as he is fondly called in the film industry) rich and varied repertoire, which includes a romantic musical (Rangeela), a road movie (Daud), a Hollywood-styled musical (Mast) and a Hitchcock-ian whodunit (Kaun). Chuckles the habitually self-deprecating director, "I don't know if Company is expressive. But it has certainly been an expensive and time-consuming film. I don't know how well it has turned out, but I can say this much - the Hindi film industry has seen nothing like Company so far. The way it has been shot, the camera angles and the performances are all in the realm of the real."

Now being readied for a March-April 2002 release, Company stars Ajay Devgan and newcomer Vivek Oberoi as two gangsters on mutually ruinous trips. Both actors are said to have given brilliant performances. The film brings back the Malayali maverick Mohan Lal in the role of the police commissioner of Mumbai (modelled on a real-life cop).

About Suresh Oberoi's son Vivek, Ramu says, "He's the best newcomer I've ever worked with." This, coming from the man who discovered or reinvented acting talent like Manoj Bajpai, Urmila Matondkar, Fardeen Khan and Aftab Shivdasani, is indeed high praise for Vivek.

Interestingly, Ramu's regular leading-lady, Urmila, is missing from his latest production, triggering off a buzz in Bollywood's ever-active gossip-mills. The gawk rags even linked the director with the leading-lady of Company, Manisha Koirala (who, incidentally, is expected to make a comeback with this film).

Not long ago, a magazine claimed that Urmila slapped Ramu's wife at a function in Hyderabad. Ramu chuckles at the gossip. "I can only laugh at the stuff these gossip magazines write about me."

"What nonsense is this? Wife? That was in the past. And she's not part of the cinema industry. At least, with Urmila I can handle the slander, no matter how vicious. But why drag a poor woman, who has nothing to do with me or the film industry, into all this? For me, it's easy to rub off the muck. But for a woman, who, incidentally, I haven't met for almost four years, this must be very painful."

Ramu not only denies the incident, but also claims the function never happened. "As expected, there was no by-line to the story. I don't get angry with anyone. But I think such completely baseless stories are ridiculous. I haven't seen my wife for four years. And they cook up a bloody function and a fight! Why don't these gossip writers take to genuine pulp fiction writing?"

Company is the most expensive film Ram Gopal Varma has ever produced. Traversing three continents, the film takes a long, hard-hitting look at international terrorism. The director is also said to have shot some stunning action sequences featuring Ajay Devgan in the Kenyan forests.

Company probes the thorny nexus between Mumbai's film world and the underworld. Neeraj Vora plays the character of a film director, who is armtwisted into fraternising with the underworld. Ramu is quick to point out, though, that the character isn't modelled on any real life person.

Says Ramu, "A rumour that I've modelled the director's character on someone from the film industry is being spread. Why on earth would I do that? There were straight digs at personalities from the film world in Rangeela, Mast and Love Ke Liye Kuchh Bhi Karega. Why would I have them in Company? This isn't that kind of a film."

The leading man, Vivek Oberoi, is already the toast of tinsel town. He reportedly commands a fee of over a crore for the new films he has signed, including the Hindi remake of Mani Rathnam's Tamil blockbuster Alai Payuthe with Rani Mukherjee.

Says Ramu, "Vivek isn't a conventional hero. But he's immensely talented. When I saw him for the first time, I immediately offered him a Rs 10 note, and signed him on. Since there was no scope for theatrics in my film, I thought I might as well indulge in some beforehand," he grins. In Company, Vivek Oberoi is paired with Antara Mali.

While Company is getting its finishing touches, one of the two lead pairs, Vivek Oberoi and Antara Mali (seen in Ramu's Mast), are busy shooting for another Ram Gopal Varma production, Road, being directed by Rajat Mukherjee. The film marks the reunion of Varma and his Satya star Manoj Bajpai. The two had fallen out sometime back. "That's in the past," says Ramu, adding, "Manoj is superb in Road."

This is one movie I'm looking forward to.......RGVs films have always been different, this doesn't look like an exception.