Ram Gopal Varma hits rock bottom with film flop

By Prithwish Ganguly

MUMBAI (Reuters Life!) - Top Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma's remake of a cult classic is a box office flop and he knows it's all his fault.

Varma has drawn flak for "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", his ambitious remake of the 1975 film "Sholay" which nosedived at the box-office. The films tell the story of two reformed crooks who save a village from a bloodthirsty bandit.

"Every flaw the film is being criticised for is mine," Varma told Reuters. "I take full responsibility for my film. It is my vision that faltered from the script to the music to the songs."

The maverick director said he had hit rock bottom with the film's failure.

He also said he now believes his project was doomed to failure as it ran into legal problems. Many critics also labelled his attempt at rehashing a blockbuster classic as stupidity.

"Everybody told me not to go ahead with it. The film then went into legal tangles. Characters needed to be changed, the title needed to be changed and even the script to some extent.

"Now I think it was not wise for me to go ahead," he said.

Varma, known for his gangster movies and horror flicks, said he could only improve from now on. "I have hit an all time low. I can only move up now," he said.

Varma's next film "Sarkar Raj", a sequel to the hit 2005 film "Sarkar" about a megalomaniac politician, is scheduled to be released in December this year.