‘Sarkar Raj isn’t on Godfather 2 or about the Thackerays’

Abhishek-Aishwarya, Jaya Bachchan’s guest appearance, Narmada controversy. Director Ram Gopal Varma clears the hoopla around his big sequel

Why have a media circus today to unveil Sarkar Raj? Is that a sign of your insecurity after Darling, Aag and Go, the three fiascos of last year?
(Sarcastically) Oh yes, I’m so frightened I can hardly breathe. But seriously, this isn’t the first media event for my film. We had a launch event for the first Sarkar film also. We’ll be showing a show-reel and formally announcing the release for June 6 and also introducing the media to the theme.

Is Sarkar Raj more crucial than your other recent films?
Every film works on its own merits. I don’t think I made Darling or Aag thinking they won’t be liked. People watch a movie or don’t watch it for their own reasons. For me, Sarkar Raj isn’t that career-changing event that it’s being made out to be.

So much speculation on it. One website wrote Mrs Jaya Bachchan makes a secret appearance in the film.
So secret even I don’t know about it. I told them it’s not true. They still sms-ed Amitji for a confirmation and in fact, told him that I had confirmed she’s in the film. What do I do?

The film might be a casualty of over-expectation.
First of all, I don’t know what the expectations are. I do my work. I don’t even watch TV. Audiences know Sarkar Raj is a drama. Once I got into that family’s life, I was curious to know where it went from there.
However, the second part does NOT take off from where the first part left. You can call it another episode in the adventures of Sarkar. When you’re dealing with the life of a political gangster — for want of a better term — you can’t resort to a linear narration.

Is Sarkar Raj bigger?
The sequel’s scale is much larger. I feel the plot in the first part was fairly simplistic, firstly because it was inspired by The Godfather — the Mafioso father and two sons — done dozens of times. Sarkar Raj is much more complex. It’s certainly not Godfather 2. There’s absolutely no reference to Godfather in Sarkar Raj. It’s much more original and connected to the Indian socio-political reality.

It’s said to be inspired by the Thackeray family.
Let me say this once and for all. Sarkar Raj has no bearing to any real-life politics or politicians, at least not directly. There’s much speculation about the film being inspired by the Narmada project. I don’t know anything about the Narmada.
I know nothing about politics. I’m completely ignorant of what happens outside the film world. If people are comparing the plot of my film to Narmada because they both involve a degree of social protest, then all I can say is that protest is an essential part of any drama that goes beyond entertainment.

But Sarkar Raj does have political references.
I don’t know what politics is. When I made films about the underworld, I only understood its workings in as far as they served as a backdrop to my drama. What interests me as a filmmaker are conflicts that arise out of situations where characters are faced with a moral dilemma.
The political scenario in Sarkar Raj isn’t researched in any depth. It’s politics as understood by a common man. I’m interested in the psychological and emotional dynamics behind politics.

You’ve pitched Abhishek and Aishwarya against one another?
First of all, they’re pitted against one another only in a specific ideological situation. Sarkar Raj isn’t formatted as a typical commercial film. So there’s no question of pitching characters against one another.

Aishwarya says she’s relatively marginal to the conflict.
She’s more an observer in the drama that unfolds in Shankar’s (Abhishek) family, and how she gets converted by Shankar’s ideology is the graph her character follows. When I first approached Aishwarya, I didn’t even know there was marriage between Abhishek and her on the cards. I wanted her to play the character because of her dignity and elegance. Even though her beauty is overpowering, I was surprised by her restrained performance in Sarkar Raj. Many people feel heavy dialogue-baazi and rona-dhona is a good performance. I think a good performance is more about reacting. I was stunned by Aishwarya.

So is Sarkar Raj better than Sarkar?
It’s like asking Francis Coppola if Godfather 2 was better. Not that I’m comparing myself to Coppola. But yes, Sarkar Raj has situations that are more complex and require more layered performances than Sarkar.

Finally, after all your differences with T Series, Sarkar Raj’s music is being released on their label!
Yes, we sorted out our differences. At the moment, we’re coming together for the soundtrack of Sarkar Raj. We shall see after that.

Subash K. Jha