Interview: Yes! I copy, says Ram Gopal Varma

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) His last two films may have been trashed for being poor imitations of "Sholay" and "What Lies Beneath", but Ram Gopal Varma confesses rather defiantly that he copies - "from everywhere"!

"I copy from Hollywood films. Not only from Hollywood I also copy from Tollywood, Kollywood... in fact from everywhere. These days I am copying from news channels as I am zapped by their speed," said the man whose last two films "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag" and "Darling" were super duds in the box office.

"When we are born, we are born with a blank mind and every idea is actually copied from a book, a film... or somewhere," Varma told IANS philosophically during a recent visit to Delhi.

Though he hasn't delivered any big hit recently, Varma has memorable films like "Rangeela", "Satya", "Company" and "Sarkar" under his belt. He is also the man to have introduced many new talents - the list includes Manoj Bajpai, Rajpal Yadav, Isha Koppiker and Randeep Hooda, all of whom were struggling till they were recognised after working in his films.

Some of his protégés', however, like Mohit Ahlawat whom he launched in "James", have blamed him for messing up their careers. But the maverick director is undeterred and says these outbursts are outcomes of their over expectations.

"If they say so they must be having some reason behind it. Actually, newcomers have a lot of expectations. When I launch them, I build their confidence to take the best out of them. They take me for granted and blame me against those who never gave them a chance," he said.

Other than Manoj and Rajpal Yadav, none of the actors launched by him has been able to leave a lasting mark in the Hindi film industry. The filmmaker believes success depends on an actor's individual effort.

"Success belongs to them. I don't pitch them to make them successful. Their potential remains the same, it is just that they have to work hard and groom themselves with time".

If Varma doesn't shoulder the responsibility of his protégés' failure, he doesn't take credit for their success either: "I just boost their confidence and they do the rest themselves".

In "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", the director launched Prashant Raj, a model. Though critics have slammed the performance, Varma says he is satisfied by Prashant's work and dismisses the belief that working with newcomers is a strenuous job.

"Most of the time, newcomers are more prepared than veteran actors. They do their homework properly and then come on the sets while established actors are too busy to rehearse before they come for shooting."

Varma's forthcoming films include "Sarkar 2", "Go" and "Dheyaya".