Director Ram Gopal Varma and superstar Amitabh Bachchan have enjoyed a long and fruitful professional relationship. However, according to Varma, their collaboration hasn’t been without its bumps, with the most notable disagreement arising during the making of the 2005 political drama Sarkar. Despite their mutual respect, Varma and Bachchan found themselves at odds over a specific scene in the film.
Amitabh Bachchan and Ram Gopal Varma had disagreement
Ram Gopal Varma recently shared insights during a conversation with Film Companion. While discussing the filming of Sarkar, which featured Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, and Katrina Kaif alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Varma revealed a rare disagreement he had with the legendary actor. He mentioned that in all their years of collaboration, they had only once disagreed on interpreting a particular emotion.
Varma explained, “In Sarkar, when he asks his son to get out, I had told him that he was upset with him before, that he shouted at him at the dining table and other places.
“A man gets angry only when he still has hope, but I think this was the situation where he lost hope in his son. So, it is a clinical decision, you should not have any emotions. He disagreed with me and said, ‘No matter what, a father trying to get his son away is too…,’”
Varma mentioned that he obviously couldn’t keep arguing with the Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehnaa actor indefinitely, so he agreed to shoot the scene as the actor desired. However, he was quite surprised when he received a call from Big B late at night around 11 PM. Mr Bachchan expressed that he had been reflecting on their discussion and now believed Varma was correct, so he requested a reshoot.
The following day, when they reshot the scene, Mr. Bachchan surpassed Varma’s expectations by far. It was during this reshoot that Mr Bachchan introduced the famous hand gesture seen in the film. Varma emphasized that this gesture was entirely the actor’s creation, not his. He had simply instructed him to perform the scene without emotions, in a cold-blooded manner.
Sarkar later evolved into a franchise, culminating in its third and final installment released in 2017. Throughout their collaboration, RGV and Bachchan have teamed up on various projects, including Department, Rann, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, and Nishabd.
