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Megapowerstar
Vooriki Bewarse
Username: Megapowerstar
Post Number: 1173
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 155.201.35.50
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:52 pm: |    |
ursvenky sodara,
naadi kooda aries ee anduke G anna padam vadakunda ala anna...kikikiki |
Sollu
Censor Bewarse
Username: Sollu
Post Number: 1952
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 67.170.139.13
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:45 pm: | |
seppa kada guru garu ippude lecha ani...anni ilane thikkaga untayi...confuse ayipoyi....samincheyandi....KIKIKIKI
KIKIKI mimmalne anna ramu garu.... |
Ursvenky
Kurra Bewarse
Username: Ursvenky
Post Number: 136
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 67.92.14.35
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:42 pm: | |
vaadedo pedda intelligent director ani feel ayyipothaadu. KV 10 times better director veedikanna. |
Veena
Bewarse
Username: Veena
Post Number: 824
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 161.225.1.12
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:41 pm: | |
ok sollu, pai section lo 1mnt lo start chesta
Veena  Prabhas |
Ramu
Bewarse
Username: Ramu
Post Number: 727
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 199.244.214.30
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:41 pm: | |
sollu bAbU,
pedda pudindi ani peel ayipothe inthe mari!!! KIKIKIKIKI
nannEnA ee mATa annadi  . asalu 'pudindi' anTE meaning EnTi? nAku telisina word puDingi
enti mastaru inka intiki pola? 9 gantalu unnattu unnaru oppice lo
nuvvu starting time mountain time, ending time eastern time sUttE iTTAgE unTadi
rAmu(Du) manci bAluDu  cinnappaTinuncI intE |
Ursvenky
Kurra Bewarse
Username: Ursvenky
Post Number: 135
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 67.92.14.35
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:41 pm: | |
MPS mama
daanini ahankaaram anaru...g lo kovvu antaru. |
Sollu
Censor Bewarse
Username: Sollu
Post Number: 1951
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 67.170.139.13
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:40 pm: | |
veena ippude lecha...naa answers anni thikaga untayi mari...kani vere thadu esuko. |
Veena
Bewarse
Username: Veena
Post Number: 823
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 161.225.1.12
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:39 pm: | |
>>ee roju emi prashnalu adagabothunnavu
yemadagala ani alochinstunna
Veena Prabhas |
Megapowerstar
Vooriki Bewarse
Username: Megapowerstar
Post Number: 1169
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 155.201.35.50
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:38 pm: | |
april lo putteda aries anna maata...anduke konchem ahankaaram ekkuva.... |
Andagaadu
Kurra Bewarse
Username: Andagaadu
Post Number: 521
Registered: 04-2004
Posted From: 202.12.243.2
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:37 pm: | |
hai veena ee roju emi prashnalu adagabothunnavu |
Veena
Bewarse
Username: Veena
Post Number: 821
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 161.225.1.12
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:36 pm: | |
sollu, bore koduthundi, ninnu interview cheyyana
Veena Prabhas |
Veena
Bewarse
Username: Veena
Post Number: 820
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 161.225.1.12
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:35 pm: | |
Veena Prabhas |
Sollu
Censor Bewarse
Username: Sollu
Post Number: 1945
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 67.170.139.13
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:35 pm: | |
pedda pudindi ani peel ayipothe inthe mari!!! KIKIKIKIKI
enti mastaru inka intiki pola? 9 gantalu unnattu unnaru oppice lo |
Durga
Kurra Bewarse
Username: Durga
Post Number: 313
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 67.95.104.87
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:35 pm: | |
sir..?? 
narudaa ika thiragabadu,,, SIMHAMAiii,,, ugraNAARASIMHAMAiii... |
Veena
Bewarse
Username: Veena
Post Number: 819
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 161.225.1.12
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:34 pm: | |
 dinu
Veena Prabhas |
Ramu
Bewarse
Username: Ramu
Post Number: 726
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 199.244.214.30
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:34 pm: | |
veeNamma, CJ and Dinu,
mIrEmiTi, nEnE anukunnA. ninna oka sAri ilAgE debba tinnAnu. ainA buddi rAlA. title heading cUDagAnE egEsukunTU vaccEsA (last post dinu cEsADu kadA, nA gurinci EmO anukunnA  )
rAmu(Du) manci bAluDu cinnappaTinuncI intE |
Dinu
Desanike Pedda Bewarse
Username: Dinu
Post Number: 1756
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 210.5.209.225
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:33 pm: | |
Veena Gaaru 
naninka maa history sir gurinchemo anukunna
http://www.nandamuribalayya.com |
Dinu
Desanike Pedda Bewarse
Username: Dinu
Post Number: 1755
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 210.5.209.225
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:32 pm: | |
Nenu Inka Mana Ramu Mama Anukunna.
http://www.nandamuribalayya.com |
Cinejeevi
Bewarse
Username: Cinejeevi
Post Number: 909
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 64.51.51.214
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:28 pm: | |
nenu inka mana DB lo Ramu gurinchi emanna info emo anukunna.
anta pedda poste?? poddunna billa_pichhodi post ki poti naa?
emito okka signature kooda tattadam ledu time KI |
Veena
Bewarse
Username: Veena
Post Number: 818
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 161.225.1.12
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:27 pm: | |
naninka maa history sir gurinchemo anukunna
Veena Prabhas |
Vajrayudham
Pilla Bewarse
Username: Vajrayudham
Post Number: 16
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 155.70.39.45
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:26 pm: | |
Dbullodu babai ...
Why do u call him as Sir ...any reason for that ..
Why don't you call you fav hero as Sir .... |
Dasarabullodu
Kurra Bewarse
Username: Dasarabullodu
Post Number: 522
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 141.158.214.94
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 1:24 pm: | |
Profession: Film Director, Writer and Producer
Date of Birth: April 7, 1962
Education: Civil Engineering
Company: Varma Corporation Ltd.
A civil engineer by profession, Ram Gopal Varma entered the world of cinema by choice not circumstance. His self-proclaimed love for movies has been the primary source of his film-making knowledge which he translated on screen effectively. He owned a video library shop in Hyderabad a decade ago. He almost went to Nigeria to better his prospects, but decided to stay back only because by then he had started making money with the video library. Actor Nagarjuna was impressed with the way Ramu narrated the subject of Shiva to him and gave me a break as a director for the film. Ramu was confident about directing the film on his own even without any experience because direction is all about visualizing. A director is the one who has to use the talents of the cameraman, the music director, the dance director etc and amalgamate all the talents into a cohesive whole. As far as technique is concerned, you can learn in one day. The resounding success of his debut film Shiva, gave a new direction to Indian action films. At the age of 28 Ram Gopal Varma directed, wrote the script and screenplay of Shiva, thereby ensuring that his gritty portrayal of college politics remained undiluted. It was a subject close to his heart. His choice of topics for films has never been dictated by the Box-Office. Off-beat and realistic, his movies never fail in putting across the message. His primary focus is the story and the point it makes.
Ram Gopal Varma shook the whole nation with Rangeela and Tamil Nadu with Udayam a few years before. Here are some interesting bits and pieces of information about him. Even when he was in school, he loved films, in spite of beatings with belts from his mother, he didn’t give up his habit. His uncle was crazy about films too. Together, they wouldn’t miss any film. He sued to get very excited each time he saw the ‘Directed by…’ and ‘A Film by…’ title card. When he was watching the title card of Sholay that said ‘A Film by Ramesh Sippy’, he had the same passion that he felt when he saw his own name on the title card of the film Udayam. There was no support from his family. Even his maternal uncle thought he was crazy. He was not upset but was very surprised. Ram Gopal Varma believes that North Indian stars are more talented than South Indian ones. He loves Hindi films. He claims that he has no bad habits. He doesn’t believe that alcohol is a bad habit. He loves all directors starting from Steven Spielberg, Shekhar Kapoor, Govind Nihlani and others. But he doesn’t have any influences. He has his own style. He doesn’t bother himself with reviews. He says, “Why should I worry about what the faceless reviewer thinks about my film? If he doesn’t like it, there is nothing that I could do about it.”
Calling his 2002 hit movie, Company, a cerebral film, Ram Gopal Varma sums it up thus:
To me, the film hinges on the one line that the cop Mohanlal speaks, Samajhne ki koshish karo. Yeh sab kuch jo ho raha hai woh tumhare dhande ki jaat hai [Try to understand. What is happening is thanks to the nature of your job]. That is the crux of the film. If that line makes its point, the film makes its point, too. From his movies it is clear that he respects his audience. Winning a number of awards has been incidental to his creative growth. Most of the recognition has come because of his attention to detail, in-depth character portrayal and cinematic excellence. A couple of films have been aberrations, but these are an inevitable part of the creative process. Ram Gopal Varma continues in his quest for realistic story-telling along with wholesome entertainment that carries a message. He also supports and finances new directors coming up with fresh ideas. A number of talented actors and actresses have also been launched by him. All of his efforts are bringing in a gradual but steady change in the Indian film industry.
The boyish looking Ram Gopal Varma is a new rainbow on the horizon of films. He is in the news as much for the display of technical savvy as he is for making an impact on the national film scene from his home base. His technique and style are akin to Hollywood. Shy of interviews and preoccupied with his work, he talks less and thinks more. The finest craftsman of Indian movies, Shekhar Kapoor is the director he admires most.
From a video library owner to one of India's leading filmmakers, Ram Gopal Varma's success story is amazing. His innings as a filmmaker began with the low budget Telugu film Shiva.
His mother acknowledged his love for films right from his childhood and called him movie crazy. Obviously he did not get any support on this from his parents who wanted him to make good as an engineer. No one expected him to make such an impact on Indian film field. He shot into fame with his very first movie Shiva, the film that wrote Box-Office history of Telugu movies at the age of 28. It is difficult to believe that this was his maiden venture. He is credited with the script, the screenplay and direction. It brought him instant fame. For one bitten by the movie bug there could not have been a better beginning.
As a student of Siddhardha Engineering College, Vijayawada, he was a regular movie goer. In a week of 7 days, he used to see 8 to 10 movies. He would go to the same movie again and again just to watch certain scenes which interested him. He says, his love for movies cannot be put into words. Every good film is a text book, he says. He learned direction by watching films. His unwavering interest in movies made him script Shiva. He found an earnest listener in Nagarjuna, who had the guts to experiment with variety. Nagarjuna, as the right kind of soft and tough guy, fitted the hero's bill well. While making the film he followed his bare instincts, Ramu says. He gave full credit to the team. Stickler for perfection, Ramu's Shiva is a perfect blend of story, full of violence, fun and love by the roadside. While it took some of his peers over two decades to build their image as successful directors, he achieved it in 3 years. He won 1991 Andhra Pradesh Government's Nandi award as Best Director.
Ramu started his career with Shiva in Telugu, starring Nagarjuna, Amala and Raghuvaran, Shiva dealt with student politics and violence on college campuses. The film was a success and won rave reviews for its technical expertise and the intense mood created throughout the film Shiva was a landmark in Telugu movies in many ways. At that period of time, Telugu movies were becoming saturated with melodramatic scenes, outlandish costumes, shoddy technique and double entendre comedy. Shiva was a revolution in many ways. Technically it remains one of the finest movies to have been made, Ramu bought in the light and shade technique, inspired by another great director Mani Rathnam. Instead of the long-winded dialogues, the dialogues were simple, short and hard-hitting. But it was in the realm of action that Shiva proved to be a trendsetter. Till then fights in Telugu movies had meant one hero bashing up dozens of goons, indulging in all kinds of weird acrobatics, and a fight sequence gave a ready excuse to leave the theater for a smoke. The very first fight in Shiva was where the villain (Chakravarty of Satya fame) keeps pushing back the hero (Nagarjuna) who keeps quite, and retaliates with a mighty blow. That single shot thrilled the audience to no end, and we were privileged to witness some of the best action sequences. Ramu kept his action sequences short and hard-hitting, as close to real life as possible. Shiva which was the story of a young student (Nagarjuna) that was dragged into the campus group fights and took on Bhavani (Raghuvaran), the city's notorious don, was a run away hit. The characters of Shiva, Nagarjuna, Amala, Bhavani, Nanaji (Bhavani´s sleazy sidekick), Chinna (the actor became known as Chinna after this movie) became household names in Andhra. It firmly established Ram Gopal Varma as a director to reckon with in Andhra Pradesh. It was dubbed in Tamil as Udhayam and Hindi as Shiva. It had Music Maestro Ilayaraaja's music, sets by Thotta Tharani, camera by S Gopal Reddy. The film also marked the beginning career of Teja and Krishna Vamsi as assistants to Ram Gopal Varma.
After Shiva, Ramu came up with his next movie Kshanakshanam (meaning every minute) in 1991, a comedy thriller on the lines of Romancing the Stone, starring Venkatesh and Sridevi. The story of a girl fleeing a murder and a common thief coming together to search for the missing money from a bank was narrated with superb style by Ramu reminding us of the Hollywood thrillers. It was a real seat of the edge intelligent thriller, and had excellent comedy from Paresh Rawal. Sridevi was again at her best in the movie. Unfortunately not many appreciated this movie, and it was not as big a hit as Shiva, but still Kshanakshanam remains one of the finest movies made by Ramu. Known for its excellent technique. Won four awards.
In 1992, Ramu again came up with Raathri (the night), also made in Hindi as Raat, a horror movie. Unfortunately, while the movie was quite spine chilling, it was a bit difficult for the audiences to digest and the movie flopped. The song less horror movie in which he used special effects. Ramu's ode to William Fried kin's The Exorcist, Raat, starred the talented South Indian actress Revathy. It revolves around a new family consisting of Revathy, Rohini, and Akash Khuranaand a little kid whom moves into a new house. But something is wrong with the house. At first things that happens are small things like funny noises, doors closing by themselves and dead cats coming back to life-but then Revathy gets possessed by a ghost which even leads it to kill. It is revealed that a ghost of a lady who was murdered there by her boyfriend still lives there under the house. The film was a disaster at the Box-Office.
The same year he again came up with Antham (The End), which again was dubbed into Hindi as Drohi. The movie was a love story between a hit man (Nagarjuna) and a cop's sister (Urmila). While technically it was good, and it had some hummable songs by R D Burman, the unrelenting violence and the stale plot, saw it falling at the Box-Office. Certainly not one of his best movies. Antham seemed contrived. A haphazard story and screenplay didn't help matters.
Money - A commercial of a different sort. Starring J D Chakravarthy, Renuka Sahane, Paresh Rawal, Brahmanandam.
He was back in form again with Gaayam (The Wound, dubbed in Tamil as Desam) in 1993 dealing with his pet topic - The Mafia. The movie starring Jagapathhi Babu, Charan Raj, Revathy and Urmila dealt with the gang wars in Hyderabad, and had shades of Godfather in it. The movie basically deals with the story of a young man (Jagapathi Babu) who is drawn into the gang wars after his brother (Charan Raj), a don is brutally murdered in broad daylight. His journalist girlfriend (Revathy) leaves him while his cousin (Urmila) dotes on him. Though critically panned and receiving negative talk initially, the movie slowly caught on and became a big hit. The hard-hitting dialogues in the Hyderabadi dialect, the realistic depiction of the street fights attracted the audiences. Gaayam had screenplay by Mani Rathnam.
1994 saw him with Govinda Govinda starring Nagarjuna and Sridevi, Paresh Rawal. The film was produced by Ashwini Dutt for Vyjayanthi movies. The music was by Koti and Cinematography by Gopal Reddy. The movie, which was inspired by the Eddie Murphy starrer the Golden Child, tried to mix mythology and action together, however the end product was just not up to the mark and the movie sank at the Box-Office. Ramu had made some absolutely lousy movies and this was certainly one of them. It was at this time that the smear campaign was started against him in the Telugu media, about how he was gone, how his movies were not being accepted, how he was over rated etc. He was bitterly attacked on all fronts, and in the Telugu movie industry there were attempts by vested interests to suppress him. Disgusted at all this backbiting, he left for Bollywood, some say for good.
Rangeela (1995) catapulted him into Bollywood. He is planning to move to a bigger arena and not confine himself to Telugu audience alone. He is thinking of making only Hindi films in future which has larger national audience. It is certainly a loss to Telugu audience and a gain to Hindi audience. Let us hope and wish he doesn't forget his roots and entertain the Telugu audience. Rangeela, which was a fluffy MTV style musical from A R Rahman.
Rangeela was a landmark in many ways, it was Ramu's first original Hindi movie, all others being remakes or dubbed versions of his Telugu flicks. Ramu attempted a musical for the first time in his career, while giving Aamir Khan a tapori image. But Rangeela would be forever remembered as the movie, which catapulted Urmila Matondkar, to the status of India's No. 1 sex symbol. From a gawky, grimacing heroine in countless movies, Urmila underwent a metamorphosis into India's hottest pin up girl, with her new look, helped in no small part by Manish Malhotra. The songs by A R Rahman were typical MTV fast beats, and caught the imagination of the young crowd. Ramu played Pygmalion and made Urmila a star. Rangeela came like a whiff of fresh air. Full of dreams, colours, upbeat music and inspiring performances, the film portrayed Ramu's light side as a director. A love triangle between rogue Munna (Aamir Khan), aspiring actress Mili (Urmila Matondkar) and film star Kamal (Jackie Shroff), Rangeela was one of the biggest hits of the year 1995. The film also gave Urmila's career a new lease of life and reaffirmed Aamir's versatility as an actor. The movie was a big hit in 1995. While a typical candy floss movie, Rangeela nevertheless had a good script and the characters were more real to life. It had some superb performances by Aamir as usual (the famous restaurant scene), Urmila and Jackie Shroff.
After Rangeela, Ramu was back to Tollywood again with another comedy flick Anaga Anaga Oka Roju (Once Upon a time). The movie was about two lovers (Urmila and Chakravarthy) who elope from home, only to find themselves caught as suspects in the murder of the CM's political opponent. A laugh riot all the way, this movie again was a big hit, proving once again that comedy was Ramu's forte.
Ramu attempted to improve upon the same in Daud in 1997 with Urmila and Sanjay Dutt, to make a road movie. While many claim that this movie undeservingly flopped, I don't think so. While the concept was good, the movie was more concentrated on Urmila's charms and Sanjay's biceps that the basic plot went awry. No wonder it was a huge flop at the Box-Office again. As if to atone for Daud, Ramu went all out with the on-the-road adventure Daud. The film was expected to be a Romancing The Stone kind of thriller. But thanks to its insipid sense of humor and lack of chemistry between costars Urmila and Sanjay Dutt, Daud was a washout. The film is best remembered for Urmila's steamy dance numbers and Paresh Rawal's dark comedy.
Ramu came up with what must be one of the best movies of his career, Satya in 1998. Satya was in a league of it's own. An explicit depiction of the underworld, their modus operandi and their mindset. Technically brilliant and with a sound script, Satya was a trendsetter. It also saw the rise of actors like Manoj Bajpai who played the volatile Bhiku Mhatre. For starters, the hero doesn't join the mafia to take revenge on those who killed his parents and raped his sister, he does it just to survive and loves what he is doing. The hero (Chakravarty) is again not like the typical gangster hero with a heart of gold and a beautiful moll in tow. He is absolutely cold blooded and ruthless. He has no qualms about making use of his girlfriend Vidya (Urmila) to get his job done, nor causing a stampede in a theater and killing innocent people to escape from the cops. While Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai in an outstanding performance) is the impulsive and hotheaded type, Satya is the cooler type who thinks more. Contrary to allegations, Satya never glorifies the gangsters. It doesn't show the gangsters as heroes and the cops as bumbling idiots unlike countless Hindi movies. It shows them as ordinary people fighting to survive in a violent world. The cops are shown as dedicated and efficient people, who are as ruthless as the gangsters are. And the end shows all the gangsters being shot dead like pigs literally. The climax scene where Satya begs his girl friend Vidya to listen to him, while he is being shot dead by the cops would put off any sane person from this path. There are no sermons by the cops or gangsters either about how unjust society is. Ramu has simply taken a slice of reality, put it on the screen and asked the audience to draw their own conclusions.
Satya is obviously the director's shift towards movie-making honesty. Saddling his focus on the travails of a gangster, Varma hopes to convey the insecurity and jeopardy of urban existence in the contemporary milieu of deception and violence. His camera pans the brazen realism of Mumbai underworld and cautions that one can encounter the murderously bizarre anywhere in the metros. Satya was a big sensation and brought the best from a unpopular actor like Manoj Bajpai. It was dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as Satya. It has turned out to be critics delight, besides it has done extremely well at the Box-Office. The success of Satya has proved that Varma is always an accomplished craftsman.
Shot on a shoestring budget at a reclusive farmhouse in Panvel, Kaun was an experimental horror film. A girl alone in a house, an unnerving stranger, a small-time crook, a stormy night, Ramu's technical sense, Sandeep Chowtha's eerie music and Mazhar Kamran's focused camerawork built up a chilly mood. Urmila's performance was a revelation. The film did well in the metros. Like Raat, Kaun had no songs. Both the films relied on their haunting background scores. He followed it up with Kaun in 1999 a murder mystery involving just 3 characters. It was an innovative movie and again had superb performances by Urmila and Manoj. Kaun was a hit in the metros, but then Ramu has never been too popular in the hinterland.
In the middle he directed a Telugu movie, Prema Katha (1999) that introduced Antara Mali, Sumanth and Manoj Bajpai. The movie was however a run of the mill love story and after Satya and Kaun, was quite a disappointment. But then that has always been the case with Ramu; he would come up with an excellent movie and inexplicably follow it up with an equally pathetic movie.
His next movie about celebrity adulation Mast (1999) followed, which had a besotted hero (Aftab Shivadasani making his debut) following his favorite heroine a movie star, called Mallika (Urmila again). The movie also saw Antara Mali making her debut in Hindi as the hero's next-door neighbour. Unfortunately while the premise was good, the handling left a lot to be desired. This movie also flopped at the Box-Office. Mast was inspired from Ramu's own fantasies about actress Sridevi, who he admires. In Mast, newcomer Aftab Shivdasani portrayed the guy who dreams of being involved with the unattainable film star Urmila Matondkar. The film didn't make any impact and sank without a trace.
In 2000 Ramu came up with Jungle, which was inspired by the Veerappan saga. Initially Jungle was said to be based on the life of notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. It turned out to be a love story about two youngsters (Fardeen Khan and Urmila), who find themselves caught amidst a motley crew of wild smugglers and crooks (Sushant Singh, Rajpal Yadav and Kashmira Shah). Despite its sleek look and pacy filming, Jungle lacked soul. It turned out to be a significant film in the careers of Fardeen Khan, Sunil Shetty and Sushant Singh. The movie was a good break to Fardeen Khan. It also had good performances by Sunil Shetty, Sushant Singh (making a good debut as villain) and Kashmira Shah as the moll. Though not his best work, Jungle nevertheless remains a good movie.
And now after a hiatus Ramu was back again with Company, and has effectively proved he is one of the best directors not only in Bollywood or Tollywood but also all over India. He is a hard core professional. Filmmakers are always on the lookout for authentic locales for their films. But Ram Gopal Varma is way ahead of others. He made Company, which stars Malayalam superstar and national award winner, Mohanlal, another national award winner Ajay Devgan along with Manisha Koirala, debutant Vivek Oberoi and Antara Mali. The film's title Company is obviously inspired from the infamous D Company. In Satya he shot in the by lanes of Mumbai for the realistic feel in the film and this time when one is wondering how will the film turn out, Ramu had reportedly obtained permission to shoot the film in an even more realistic setting. He is reported to have done the film's shooting in underworld don Iqbal Mirchi's house for the film. Some guys will go to any length to do things the right way! With Company, Ramu's fetish for unearthing the mechanics of the underworld continues. Company takes a macro view of the international crime scene. It is a lavish, larger-than-life crime story about the clash between rival gang-lords. (played by Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi respectively).
His production house is called as Varma Corporation.
He even gave a break to Sumanth (Nagarjuna's nephew) and Antara Mali in Prema Katha. Manoj Bajpai might have been a struggling actor, but Ramu gave him a break as Bhiku Mhatre in Satya (1998) and the rest as they say is history. And now with Company apart from re establishing the credentials of Ajay Devgan and Manisha Koirala as two of Bollywood´s finest performers, he has also bought in two other talented newcomers Sumanth (Prema Katha), Vivek Oberoi (Vivek's hard-hitting performance and unconventional looks are already the talk of tinsel town), and Antara Mali who though already had made her debut in Mast (1999). He also has introduced other talented actors like Sushant Singh (Jungle), Makarand Deshpande (Satya), Chakaravarti (Satya) to Bollywood. Apart from actors he also has spawned a new breed of directors all of them bearing allegiance to the master like Rajat Mukherjee (Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya), E Nivas (Shool, Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega), Madhur Bhandarkar (Chandni Bar) and down south he again introduced talented directors like Krishna Vamsi (to be making his debut in Hindi with Boney Kapoor's Shakti - The Power), Shiva Nageshwara Rao (Money the Telugu original of LKLKBK) etc. Unlike the other self proclaimed maverick of Bollywood, who believes that to be a maverick is to shoot your mouth off on every thing, Ramu is a real maverick in many ways.
He is a director whom the stars chase rather than the other way around. In a Bollywood full of camps and cliques, he operates on his own individual level. He lets his movies do the talking and doesn't believe in marketing gimmicks. It's true that he made some absolutely god-awful movies like Mast (1999), but then the credits far outweigh the debits in his case. He has given breaks to many actors and actresses and resurrected their careers. From a frumpy pouting heroine he transformed Urmila Matondkar into the nation's sex symbol with Rangeela (1995) and again did a complete U-turn casting her in a de-glamorized role in Satya (1998).
He lives life on his own terms and doesn't seem the need to justify himself to any one. That's one reason why he has been immune to all sorts of brickbats thrown at him by people, be it his fondness for Urmila or the charge that he glorifies crime. But then people like Ramu don't follow rules they cock a snook at them and set their own rules. While he has his own set of admirers, there are a number of people who equally detest him. His unconventional style of filmmaking, his blunt and frank approach, his no nonsense attitude towards starry airs, some how put off quite a number of people. But then that's the price you pay for being individualistic and doubly so if you happen to be an Indian, where you have to conform at every stage to other's whims and fancies. But then Ramu has never been a stranger to controversies beginning with his first movie Shiva in 1989.
Unfortunately he had to face a vicious campaign against him by vested interests in the local media about how he was encouraging violence among youngsters. Quite strange all these honorable men kept mum, when we the unfortunate Telugu audience were being subjected to double meaning vulgar dialogues and glorification of eve teasing by the hero, and now when some body made a honest movie on the topic of criminalization of campuses, there were howls of protest. Also when campus based movies had scenes depicting the lecturers as clowns, and blatant eve teasing of the heroine, these honorable gentlemen were nowhere to be heard. Surely truth is bitter and I guess we Indians are always uncomfortable in facing truth. Violence on campuses has been there, and Ramu only showed what was happening on the campuses. Anyway after Shiva the style of movie making in Telugu changed, the fights were now more realistic, many directors started incorporating the light and shade techniques, and in place of the long winded dialogues the dialogues became much more clipped and effective.
But while Ramu was never a favorite with the family audiences who preferred something gentler and softer, he was a big hit with the younger crowd, who were the ones who made Shiva a hit. Shiva was a movie, which many of us who were students at that time could identify with. In the between he had already made his debut in Bollywood with the Hindi version of Shiva (1990) which also proved to be an equally big hit.
Actors feel happy to work for Ram Gopal Varma and Ramu, for his unit. Asked if he plans his shooting well in advance his response was negative. It is spontaneous and the decisions are taken on the spot. In his pictures he tries to be dramatic without being melodramatic. He does not hesitate in acknowledging his debt to Hollywood entertainers ranging from Guns of Navarone to Jurassic Park . As a kid when his uncle took him to English movies, he would keenly watch the camera work, the performances, even the background music scores of Ben-Hur, Ten Commandments, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, so on. He would narrate the stories to anyone who cared to listen to them.
While narrating, he would pace it brisk and precise as James Hadley Chase. He was also influenced by Ramesh Sippy's Sholay, which according to him, achieved a perfect balance between sensible and commercial cinema. He was also influenced by Govind Nihlani's Ardh Sathya, which was extremely hard-hitting and realistic. He calls himself a product of the best of both worlds. Hollywood helped him do away with all those ingredients which dilute a film's overall impact. When the director takes care to adhere to the story, the audience is completely absorbed - that's his formula for a good movie. One can do without the mandatory distractions like side stories. Deewar told a gripping story devoid of other distractions . It is not necessary to wander into subplots he insists.
According to him, Speed is an ideal Hollywood movie. There wasn't much by way of conventional plot but the movie had everyone glued to their seats. He accepts to being guilty of using the frantic pace to an extent. He agrees to being carried away by technique in the case of Raatri. He likes his scenes simple and straight and does not like to clutter the story with sentimental clichés.
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