ScreenAnarchy's favorite controversial Indian filmmaker is constantly in the news in India. The man knows how to whip up publicity and obviously agrees with the old idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Lucky for me, Google News tracks these things for me, so I thought I'd share a few of the more interesting notes:
1. Rakhta Charitra Part 1 is a big hit in Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu speaking portion of India. The film deals with local politics, and people are very passionate about it. After its opening, RGV even subjected himself to cuts following protests. Despite this, the film is going gangbusters and is doing so well that RGV has postponed the release of Part 2 for a month to allow Rakhta Charitra Part 1 as full a theatrical run as possible.
2. Prior to the film's release, RGV started a war of words with one of Bollywood's top directors, Karan Johar. Johar is responsible for huge hits like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, My Name Is Khan, and former all-time Indian box office champ, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G). My favorite exchange between the two was this:
RGVzoomin: Rc has no loving families..it only has warring families.so all those who liked kabhi khushi kabhi gum better stay away from Rakta charitraWell played, Karan Johar.
kjohar25: Apparently Rakhtcharitra is not for people who liked K3G!! Didn't know planet pluto had multiplexes!! Aliens can't wait to see it!!
3. Ram Gopal Varma is attempting to get Telugu Mega-Star Chiranjeevi out of retirement by offering him a role in a proposed film called Dhora - The Lord. Chiranjeevi is a legend in Telugu cinema, and he has succumbed to what seems like the ultimate fate of many Indian film stars in that he joined politics. In the west, actors entering politics often sounds like a joke and is treated as such, however, in India, the opposite is true. Film stars are besieged with requests to enter politics. The most famous example of this is Superstar Rajinikanth, who is asked about his political future in every interview he ever gives, no matter how short. So far he has declined, and I am thankful for that.
RGV has employed a very strange form of flattery in attempting to gain Chiranjeevi's favor. They have a checkered past and RGV is trying to mend the gap, but perhaps not in the most effective of ways. On Twitter, RGV has gushed about Chiru, at one point he tweeted:
RGVzoomin: I think in his new avatar chiranjeevi gaaru is looking younger than pawan kalyanNothing too bad, right? Pawan Kalyan is Chirnajeevi's younger brother, and while he is a "Power Star", he doesn't quite reach Chiru's stature. Here is the good one:
RGVzoomin: One thousand Ram charans cannot make one chiranjeeviHigh praise, indeed. Ram Charan Teja is the new hot star of last year's Magadheera, featured in the Top Kills here and mentioned elsewhere on the site. But wait, Ram Charan is also Chiru's son. So, RGV essentially, in the interest of winning Chiranjeevi's favor, insulted his son saying that he'll never live up to his father's glory. Hmm. I have a son, and I can't imagine taking too kindly to that.
4. In the interest of moving forward, RGV has recently announced his plans for the first quarter of 2011. He plans to film India's first 3D blockbuster. Now, everybody and their mother has been making this same claim for at least a year, so who knows who will be first, but RGV seems to at least have some details in the press. So far it sounds veeeeeeeeeeery interesting.
He is planning a big budget action-adventure film, titled Amma, along the lines of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The title apparently refers to the goddess Kali, though I don't know the religious connotation, however, Kali worship was a major part of Temple of Doom. Here is the skinny from the man himself:
'I made 'Rakta Chatra' in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages simultaneously. Now, I am planning to produce this adventurous movie in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and English languages, in the latest 3D technology. The film would be released not only in 3D but also 2D technology. We are planning to launch the shooting in January 2011 and complete the film in April and release the film in August. This would be the highest budget film in my 20-year-old film career and I titled it as 'Amma'. So far, Vivek Oberoi, Jayed Khan, Sonu Sood, Abhimanyu Singh, Arjun (Gentleman and Oke Okkadu fame), Nasiruddin Shah, Subbaraju, Brahmanandam were selected so far. Two more female and four more characters are yet to be selected. The specialty of the film is that this film doesn't have any heroes and only villains.'Vivek Oberoi, Naseerrudin Shah, Sonu Sood, and Abhimanyu Singh are all very talented actors and make me think that this might be worth staking out. RGV's production office has also confirmed that they will be shooting in Brazil, the Congo Basin, and on the Caspian Sea near Iran. This could be a fun movie.
I always have good RGV news in my mailbox, and I might share some more if I come across anything interesting. The guy really doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.