‘Amitabh Bachchan can also be blamed for Aag but I am taking the blame for it,’ says Ram Gopal Varma: ‘They wanted Jackie Chan’ | Bollywood News

When Ram Gopal Varma decided to make RGV Ki Aag, his initial thought was to take elements from the film, and place it in modern day setting. And he believes that if he made it with the sincerity of Satya, it would have done wonders. However, things went south, when he faced a creative block and the film never panned out the way he thought it would. In a new interview, the filmmaker revealed the real reason behind making a film based on Sholay. He jokingly blamed Amitabh Bachchan, Sascha Sippy, and a couple of others for the failure of the film.
Speaking with Komal Nahta on his YouTube channel Game Changers, RGV briefly narrated his idea that was around a mill owner seeking revenge for his dead son, and hiring a gangster to kill the criminals who killed his son. He said, “If I had shot it as seriously as I made Satya, I am sure it would have done good. But I didn’t.” Explaining the reason behind messing the story, the filmmaker shared, “The trigger to make a sequel to the film was because of Sascha Sippy, the grandson of GP Sippy. He once called me and said that his grandfather wants to meet me. He said they have a story for Sholay sequel.”
Ram Gopal Varma then narrated the wild script the original makers of the Sholay had in mind. He said, “The story was such that after Mehbooba song, Gabbar sleeps with Helen’s character, who has a ba: Jr Gabbar. Now, Jr Gabbar wants to take revenge for his father at a time when Veeru and Basanti are on their way to see Radha. Jr Gabbar kidnaps Veeru and Basanti, and now their son comes to take revenge.” Ram said the Sippy family even wanted Jackie Chan to be part of their wild sequel. Ram Gopal Varma refused to be part of this version of Sholay, and on his way began to think ways of remaking the iconic film.
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“ the time I came, my team was sitting and talking. There was this poster designer, who heard me talking. He went and made a poster of Gabbar Singh like how Amitabh Bachchan was there. I said, ‘it doesn’t look real.’ He told me, ‘Sir, when they made Sholay then, nobody knew this would become so big. Now, it’s a legend and legends can’t look real and ordinary. Next day, I went to Amitabh Bachchan and narrated the story to him. He even agreed to it. It was on the basis of his trust on me post Sarkar,” he said.
Ram Gopal Varma said he faced a creative block and made many wrong decisions. He shared, “In filmmaking, the first primary make you do is taking the decision of what you want to do. After that, nothing is in your control. Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag met with the same fate.” He then laughed and jokingly said, “The real culprit is Sascha Sippy, the poster guy and people who were sitting next to me. In a way, also Bachchan sahab. But I am taking the blame for it.” In an earlier chat with Galatta Plus, RGV said that he was apologetic that Amitabh had to face criticism because of the film and said, “Amitabh Bachchan put his reputation at stake because he agreed to do RGV Ki Aag and the fact that film became a laughing stock, the reason is me, not him,” he said and added, “I would feel guilty that I made him go through that.”
The 2007 film also starred Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn and Sushmita Sen in lead roles. Upon its release, the film received negative reviews and was considered to be one of the worst films ever made.