Clarifying his recent tweet where he suggested Shah Rukh Khan might lose stardom to Salman Khan, RAM GOPAL VARMA told us he complimented the King Khan and didn’t mean to criticise the star. By Vaibhav Juyal
For quite some time, Ram Gopal Varma has been making buzz for his infamous views on Bollywood stars or his Twitter wars with other film-makers. His recent comment on Shah Rukh Khan suggesting that the King Khan may lose his stardom to Salman Khan erupted furore on social media. “Megastar SRK becoming ordinary fan, dwarf etc is as big a same blunder as what Kamal Haasan did to lose his stardom to Rajinikanth (Salman Khan). Kamal was as big a superstar as Rajinikanth till he started doing dwarf, fat, tall etc and as a fan I hope SRK doesn’t listen to wrong advisers (sic),” he had tweeted.
While in Delhi to talk about his latest movie Veerappan, he maintained his stand dubbing the comment as ‘compliment’. “My stand is still the same. It was a compliment to Shah Rukh Khan. I’m his and I would like to see him as a star,” he said.
Directed by Varma, Veerappan takes cue from Operation Cocoon to nab real life bandit Veerappan. The central characters are played by Sandeep Bharadwai (Veerappan) and Sachiin Joshi (cop). On why he is not working with A-list actors, Varma said he’s driven by the scripts, not the stars. “I make realistic films. Star cast is done as per the script. When I made Rangeela with Aamir Khan, he was not that big as he is today. I always select my actors depending on their suitability to the subject.
Over the years, the film-maker, who once produced iconic movies like Rangeela and Satya, has become the target of critics. However, he is unfazed by criticism. “Whether or not it is my second innings, it is up to people to comment. My job is to make films. If they don’t like them, it is not my problem,” he said.
