In a candid reflection on his career, legendary filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) admits that his most iconic hits, including ‘Satya’ and ‘Company’, were “accidents” driven by instinct rather than calculated genius. In the same interview, Varma also delved into the “arrogance and carelessness” that clouded his judgment following his rise to fame, leading to high-budget failures like ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’ and ‘Department.’

More than two decades after its release, ‘Satya‘ remains the gold standard for Indian crime dramas. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film revealed the myth around the Mumbai underworld and replaced it with something more unsettling: ordinary men navigating violent worlds. In a recent interview, Ram Gopal Varma noted how the film’s success stemmed from its refusal to glamorize the mafia. Instead of caricatures, he focused on the domesticity of gangsters, showing realism in its very core. In a recent interview, RGV opened up on ‘Satya’, its aftermath and also the worst film of his career.

Ram Gopal Varma on ‘Satya’

In a conversation with Vickey Lalwani, RGV explained, “As ordinary people, we only hear about the underworld in the news, someone has been killed or died in an encounter. In ‘Satya’, I wanted to show their personal lives, their friendships, relationships, and what they are like at home. I wanted to explore ordinary people in extraordinary situations.”

Ram Gopal Varma on the aftermath of success

Success often brings a sense of invincibility, and RGV admits he wasn’t immune. Reflecting on his psychological thriller ‘Kaun’, the director acknowledges that his decision-making process shifted after ‘Satya.’ RGV describes a period that is marked by arrogance, assuming any project he touched would turn to gold, and carelessness, where he neglected to consider the professional consequences of his experimental choices. While he doesn’t regret ‘Kaun’, he admits that his mindset at the time was driven by overconfidence.“I’m not saying making ‘Kaun’ was wrong. But after ‘Satya’, I probably should have made something bigger. ‘Kaun’ came from a mix of arrogance and carelessness. Arrogance because I assumed things would work, and carelessness because I didn’t think about the consequences.”

Why does RGV call his hits “accidents”?

In a humble admission, Varma suggests that filmmaking is far less scientific than people believe. He claims that while his failures were “intentional” while his successes were largely unpredictable. RGV added that revisiting ‘Satya’ later made him realize how much more “instinctive” that film had been compared with some of his later, more intellectualized work.“All my hit films are accidents, and all my bad films are intentional. If I knew what exactly made a ‘Satya’, ‘Company’, ‘Rangeela’ or ‘Bhoot’ work, why would I ever make a film that doesn’t?”

‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’

When asked to name the weakest film he has ever made, Varma answered without hesitation, pointing to the projects that demanded the most resources but delivered the least impact.“The worst film I ever made would definitely be ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’, followed closely by ‘Department’. Both took the maximum time and money in my career.”

Ram Gopal Varma on the work front

On the work front, Ram Gopal Varma is gearing up for his next venture titled ‘Police Station Mein Bhoot’, a horror film starring Manoj Bajpayee, Ramya Krishnan and Genelia Deshmukh.