Ram Gopal Varma is talking and not tweeting. His Twitter targets will be pleased that for over eight hours there's been no controversial tweet fired from his Twitter handle.
He has a film release around the corner, but the filmmaker is least bothered about his controversial comments on the social media platform bringing bad publicity to Sarkar 3, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Amit Sadh, Rohini Hattangadi, Jackie Shroff, among others.
He says, “There are two things here. To start with, I don’t know if the tweet or films have any connection. People either like the trailer or they like the actor. These are the reason why they may or may not watch the film. They may not be bothered about the tweets. Most times, I think the tweets would interest the media than the general public, except that they are entertained. If a big director like Steven Spielberg posts a nasty tweet, I’m not going to be affected. Irrespective of what tweet he puts, I will see the film for a completely different reason."
Fair point, but don’t such controversial, provocative tweets, also hurt the goodwill that you’ve generated over the years?
“I have been tweeting since seven years. In that my films working or not working, has nothing to do with the tweets. That is my belief. But someone else might think otherwise. I can’t fight that. Eventually, Twitter is nothing for me, but an expression," says Varma.
But hasn't calling Tiger Shroff a woman, a transgender affect your equation with the Shroff family?
"It is not," the Sarkar 3 filmmaker disgrees.
If so is the case, then why don’t we see Jackie Shroff promoting Sarkar 3 today?
“What we internally speak and what each of us talk to the press is different. I have been doing this forever. My Tweet on the (Lord) Ganapati last year, saw some 14 cases filed against me. That is part of me. If I’m like a snake, then it going to bite. You can’t tell a snake that why are you biting. It happens (tweet on Tiger Shroff) and then again we get back. They too know that I do this all the time. Three years back, I’d called Amitabh Bachchan a c*****a. But after that he’s done work with me. People who know me understand that this is a part of me.”
When Varma was categorically asked whether he dislikes Tiger Shroff, he said, “What I spoke, what came out (Vidyut Jammwal’ sting operation) that is a different thing. But the first tweet that I tagged him asking why he poses like a woman when he’s a martial arts fighter, I meant it. This conversation was just an extension of that with somebody else. Anyways, since I’ve apologised, I don’t want to get back into it again," quipped the Sarkar 3 director.
Did the filmmaker have a word with the Shroffs?
“No, I haven’t had a word. But they’ve spoken about it to the media. When someone speaks negative against them why won’t they speak. The matter has ended there,” Varma sighed.
Post that apology you did put out one Tweet wherein you said from here on you will be a changed man, leading us to believe that you won’t rile anyone. However, few days later, you took a jibe at Karan Johar, saying that the Dadsaheb Phalke Award should be renamed after Karan Johar.
“I said that I will not talk about an individual. I said that in the context that just because someone is in present times, their influence not being noticed is wrong. That was my opinion. I’d never seen a Dadasaheb Phalke saab film, I never met anyone who has seen Dadasaheb Phalke film.” he said.
”A lot of people don’t realise that I make the most fun of myself. They only take it seriously when I comment on someone. The only person till today who didn’t ask me to go off twitter is Bachchan. Trolls tag him the most when they put nasty tweets like Ram Gopal Varma’s gone insane. Their motto is purely to break the good ties. The whole tagging business is about bitching. Twitter is about bitching,” Varma concluded.