Ram Gopal Varma regrets all his films with Bachchan save Sarkar

Doing away with the traditional practice of launching a trailer followed by a Q&A session with the media, Amitabh Bachchan took the microphone and questioned his director, producers and colleagues from Sarkar 3.

Though the questions were basic, Bachchan and company were in a happy mood. That explained why Ram Gopal Varma unintentionally mocked actor Jeetendra and had no qualms in admitting that he had let Bachchan down in all their films together save the Sarkar franchise.

As seen in the trailer, Sarkar 3 promises to show Bachchan angrier than ever. Varma clearly wants to revive the ‘angry young man’ image of the erstwhile superstar though he is now 74 years old. Varma even addressed Bachchan as Sarkar.

Explaining the idea behind Subhash Nagre, Bachchan’s character in the Sarkar films, Varma said, “I became a director after watching Mr Bachchan in his marquee films likes Zanjeer (1973). I don’t think there has been any other actor who has reached the level of Mr.Bachchan. As the angry young man [in Zanjeer], Bachchan’s character stood against repression. I wanted to revisit that persona of Bachchan through Sarkar.”

Varma has never never shied away from admitting that it was Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather franchise that inspired him to make Sarkar. He reiterated his fascination with Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando), which inspired him to come up with a character like Subhash Nagre. 

"The Godfather (1972) is regarded as the greatest film," Varma said. "I never looked upon it as a Mafia film. It was all about self-righteousness. Because the system failed, Vito Corleone took it upon himself to serve justice. I wanted Sarkar to be that kind of person. Amitabh Bachchan represented a similar rebellion through his early films. I couldn’t have asked any other actor to play Subhash Nagre. You can't have a Jeetendra play....”

Varma didn’t complete his sentence as Bachchan cut him off cautioning him that the conversation was getting a bit too personal.

During the Q&A session with the media, Varma was categorically asked whether he has ever had any regrets about a film with Bachchan. The filmmaker did not hesitate in saying, “I regret all my films with him save Sarkar. Like I said before, all directors, including me, had taken him for granted. Maybe with other films, I got confused between the story, the characters, and the image of Mr Bachchan.” 

Apart from the three Sarkar films, RGV, as Varma is also known, had cast Bachchan in films like Nishabd (2007), Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007), Rann (2010) and Department (2012).

Sarkar 3 is scheduled for released on 7 April.