Ram Gopal Varma regrets working with Amitabh Bachchan

Ram Gopal Varma, who first became enamoured of the emotive brilliance of Amitabh Bachchan’s performance in ‘Khuddar’, believes casting the megastar in ‘Nishabd’ and ‘Aag’ was a mistake.

“If somebody argues that Amitji had no business doing those films without knowing what he was getting into, yes, he was guilty of misplacing his trust in me, but he was not guilty of not doing his best,” Varma writes in his book ‘Guns & Thighs’, saying Bachchan completely succumbs to a director’s vision or lack of it once he commits for a movie.

In a chapter titled ‘My love affair with Amitabh Bachchan’, Varma writes the actor’s makeup man told him on first day of the shoot that ‘Nishabd’ would not work and looking back he admits that it was a misjudgement on his part.

“Amitji’s make up man told me on day one of the shooting that the film wouldn’t work, because no one was going to accept Amitji in a role like that. Whether that was the reason or not, I myself as a viewer probably wouldn’t want to see him in a role like that,” writes Varma.

The director believes that behind the obvious power and intensity, Bachchan carries a vulnerability. He has never failed as an actor and he never will. It’s only directors, myself included, who frequently fail to capture his art in the right context.”

Varma,who is now criticised for making films in a hurry, argues that a good film or a bad film is dependent on chance rather than the talent of a filmmaker.

“All my successes were by default and all my failure were by intent. To those critics, who complain that I make films in a hurry, my answer is that, I would rather live in the moment and make my film right now, than endlessly plan in the hope of it becoming a masterpiece.

“Incidentally, the longest time I have taken and maximum money I have spent in my career on three film — ‘Daud’, ‘Aag’ and ‘Department’ — which are three of my biggest flops. I rest my case.”