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All about 'Company'
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"It is basically an overview of the Mumbai underworld," says Ram Gopal Varma about his new film `Company'.
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RAM GOPAL Varma represents the new wave of Bollywood directors who changed the rules of filmmaking. From his first film in Telugu `Shiva', Varma was willing to take risks and make a different kind of mainstream cinema. Later, he moved over to Mumbai and made a stylish musical `Rangeela', which created a new urban audience for Hindi films.
Then came `Satya', a chilling, hard hitting film about the Mumbai underworld, which not only was a huge box office hit, but also critically acclaimed. `Satya' was a stylish film that brought some kind of realism into the commercial milieu. Varma, a prolific filmmaker, has also experimented with taut thrillers like `Kaun' and `Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya', the real life drama based on the Rajkumar kidnapping by bandit Veerappan in `Jungle', and even turned out a comedy `Love Ke Lliye Kuch Bhi Karega'. But he is now back with his favourite subject — the underworld. Varma's to be released film `Company' is loosely based on the real life running feud between underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan.
Ram Gopal Varma speaks about the film.
What's `Company' all about?
The motive of all companies in the world is profit-making and it is all about a team of people getting together and working for a common goal. In my film `Company', a team of underworld people get together and their sole aim is to make profit. Soon differences crop up between the principal characters, which leads to bloodshed, and killing. It is basically my overview of the Mumbai underworld.
Is the film based on the running underworld war between Dawood Ibrahim and Chotta Rajan?
In my film, there are two principal characters around whom the story revolves, but they are fictional and have nothing to do with any living or dead person. I have not taken a single true-life incident from the gangster wars of Mumbai.
Is there any anti-Pakistan propaganda in your film?
My film is on how the underworld operates and I have not touched on the Pakistan angle. Nor have I made it out to be a Hindu-Muslim conflict.
Why this fascination for the underworld?
Basically, I like doing hard-hitting films. If `Satya' was a film, which was set in the underworld, in `Company', the underworld is a sort of protagonist.
There is a lot of hype about Vivek Oberoi who is making his debut in the film. Please comment.
Vivek is a perfect combination of a star and an actor. In `Company' he has deglamorised himself and has used make up to look like a man from the slums. While if you see him in his next film `Saathiyen', a Hindi remake of the Tamil hit `Alaipayuthe', you will be surprised!
How has your lead pair Ajay Devgan and Manisha Koirala performed?
They both look completely different in the film and have played roles, which are not conventional.
Tell us something on Mohanlal's role in `Company'? Was the role modelled on the Mumbai cop, Sivanandan?
Mohanlal plays a tough Palakkad-born South Indian who cleans up the Mumbai underworld.
The character is loosely based on Sivanandan, who looks more like a professor and treats crime as a disease and criminals as patients. I thought Mohanlal resembles Sivanandan a lot. So the spirit of Sivanandan is there in the character.
How do you rate Mohanlal as an actor?
He is simply the best actor I have ever worked with. Truly the Robert De Niro of Indian cinema. He is an actor who transforms himself into the character.
Has he dubbed for the film?
Yes. I wanted it that way, as his South Indian accent was an advantage.
The Isha Koppikar song "Khallas... " has become a chart buster. How did you manage to picturise it so effectively?
My intention was to keep the camera as a guest at a seedy disco where people find it difficult to move around. The idea was not to have a picture-perfect composition. It worked because we shot the entire song with a hand held camera, which gives the audience a feeling that they are there. And I showed Isha more with an attitude in the song rather than for the dancing.
Who is your role model as a director?
I am influenced by Hollywood filmmakers, especially Steven Spielberg. I have also liked `Godfather' and other gangster movies like `The Untouchables'. I think there is a lot to learn from them.
Among Indian directors, has anyone influenced you?
Undoubtedly it is Shekhar Kapoor. He can make a mass film like `Mr. India' or a classic like `Bandit Queen'.
How come at the last minute you shot a song on your favourite — Urmila?
Urmila has done the title track. She is an embodiment of the spirit of `Company', and she symbolises the gun. I have used the gun as an object of lust. See the film and you will understand the importance of Urmila's title track.
SREEDHAR PILLAI
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