Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s has come out with a book titled Guns and Thighs - The Story of My Life, which talks about all the incidents which brought Ramu in the news at various points in his life. Be it his obsession with Sridevi and Jacqueline’s thighs or his disagreement with Amitabh Bachchan, the maker Satya has explained it all in his tell-all book. Ramu spoke to The Quint’s Rohit Khilnani and answered some tough questions.
Q: Why is your book called Guns and Thighs?
RGV: The title Guns and Thighs came from my impression of the 80’s populist cinema, which highly influenced me, whether it is Amitabh Bachchan’s gun in Deewaar or Sridevi’s thighs in Himmatwala. The publishers were suggesting titles like Celluloid Dreams, Satya Kadha but I felt this title most aptly represented the book’s content.
Q: In an industry, where most people are politically correct and saying the right things all the time, your book comes across as a bold one. Is it right to say that you had a lot of foot-in-the-mouth moments, which you decided to make it into a book?
RGV: Everyone will have something to say and especially so a filmmaker. But in the course of a film I will be restricted to what the particular characters of the film have to say in the context of the story, whereas in a book, I have a direct one to one contact with the reader. I also felt the need to explain and elaborate on some of the controversies that are attributed to me.
Q: In your book you have said how Boney Kapoor has reduced his superstar wife Sridevi to a housewife and then you say Boney should read the full book. Do you think he will?
RGV:
Boney Kapoor doesn’t come across as a reader but in this context, I think he should either read at least that chapter on Sridevi or maybe get her to read it out for him.
Q: Under the influence of three or four vodkas you tweeted and called the country’s biggest superstar Amitabh Bachchan ‘chootiya’ for not doing roles like Buddha Hoga Tera Baap which you clearly enjoyed. You got a lot of flak for the poor choice of words. Now that time has gone by do you think you could have said the same thing differently? Will it be okay with you if you are called the same thing for making RGV Ki Aag by someone from the industry on an open platform like Twitter?
RGV: A tweet is a spontaneous reaction you put out on the intensity of your feeling at any given moment. I also think Twitter is a private platform between me and my followers and the followers can always unfollow if they don’t like my way of expressing things.
What I tweeted about Bachchan is a compliment expressed in a very hard-hitting manner and the important thing is that he understood it. Anyone can call me anything and they very often do. In fact, I deride and call myself names more than anyone else. Me doing a spoof on RGV Ki Aag myself in AIB is proof enough of that.
Q: Would you now hesitate to tweet after a couple of drinks?
RGV: First of all, I don’t tweet because I am high, you will see my sentence construction is very precise and to the point, no matter when I tweet. My tweets are thought provoking and hard hitting and are intended to carry both a message and a feeling.
Q: In your book you explain your visit the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai post the 26/11 attacks. At that time people said you cost the late CM Vilasrao Deshmukh his seat, did you ever think you were responsible for that?
RGV: Only to explain this I wrote an entire chapter in the book and anyone interested can go through that.
Q: Your obsession with thighs has got you into trouble quite a few times. When you spoke about Jacqueline’s thighs after watching Murder 2, Sajid Khan her then boyfriend was very upset. Did you speak to Sajid or Jacqueline after that about it?
RGV: Yes, I spoke to Sajid and cleared the matter.
Q: Now, it’s clear Pahlaj Nihalani will stay as the CBFC chief, your reaction?
RGV: Well, I guess the fight should be with the rules rather than with individuals.
Q: You slammed Aamir Khan for his comments on intolerance, many say you did that because you both don’t get along?
RGV:
The word slam is not correct, I just expressed an opinion on his opinion. Having said that, when I watched his full interview, I felt it was a complete over reaction on everybody’s part including mine.