By:
Gaurav
Malani,
IndiaFM
Tuesday,
October
10,
2006
There
are
movie
launch
parties,
movie
completion
parties,
audio
releases
and
success
celebration
parties.
But
when
it
comes
to
Ram
Gopal
Varma,
the
man
is
hatke
even
for
his
offscreen
antiques.
He
goes
out
all
the
way
to
have
a
grand
celebration
party
just
to
unveil
the
look
of
one
character
from
his
film.
And
all
this
when
he
himself
is
quite
uncertain
who
all
will
feature
in
the
movie
and
how
will
the
film
be
designed?
It
won't
be
wrong
to
say
that
Ramu's
fascination
towards
one
character
(Gabbar
Singh)
and
inclination
to
work
with
one
actor
(Amitabh
Bachchan)
has
charged
him
enough
to
make
a
remake
of
the
biggest
blockbusters
ever
in
Hindi
cinema
-
Sholay.
"Everyone
from
Jaya
Bachchan,
Hema
Malini
to
Lata
Mangeshkar
didn't
want
me
to
remake
Sholay",
says
RGV.
But
nothing
has
deterred
the
man
from
going
ahead.
After
months
(or
was
it
years?)
of
speculation
and
announcements,
Varma
finally
consolidated
his
long
proclaimed
dream
of
remaking
Sholay
with
a
grand
event
at
a
suburban
hotel
in
Mumbai
on
Saturday
evening.
Manmohan
Shetty
of
Adlabs
Films
(that
is
financing
the
project)
along
with
Ram
Gopal
Varma
and
Amitabh
Bachchan
himself
were
present
at
the
event.
As
the
stage
flipped
to
unveil
a
mega
poster
of
Amitabh
Bachchan
in
the
getup
of
the
modern
age
Gabbar
Singh,
the
camera
flashes
and
media
glares
went
bonkers.
"The
look
somewhat
reminds
of
Amitabh's
getup
from
the
film
Deewaar
-
Let's
Bring
Our
Heroes
Home"
,
whispered
a
media-person.
Had
it
been
any
other
celebrity,
he
would
have
been
victimized
for
the
over-hype.
But
being
what
he
is,
Amitabh
Bachchan
just
walked
away
with
all
the
accolades.
With
tall
boots,
rugged
stained
clothes,
a
muffler
around
the
neck
and
a
slit-scar
on
his
nose,
Amitabh
Bachchan
resting
on
a
couch,
sports
an
unclean
yet
attention-grabbing
look
as
Gabbar
Singh.
Green
is
the
tone
of
the
film.
"Watch
out
for
the
scorpion
stick",
says
Rajiv
from
Marching
Ants
who
has
worked
on
the
look
of
this
Gabbar.
Life
has
come
a
full
circle
for
Amitabh
Bachchan.
"30
years
back
when
I
was
first
narrated
the
script
of
Sholay,
I
wanted
to
play
Gabbar
Singh.
But
Ramesh
Sippy
had
a
different
character
(Jai)
in
mind
for
me.
After
3
decades
I
get
to
relive
my
dream
by
playing
Gabbar
Singh
in
Ram
Gopal
Varma
Ke
Sholay"
,
says
the
Big
B.
"The
original
Gabbar
-
Amjad
Khan
was
a
very
good
friend
of
mine.
Let's
see
how
much
of
my
friendship
reflects
in
my
performance."
How
scary
will
the
modern
Gabbar
be?
"I
don't
think
Gabbar
was
scary.
We
all
loved
him
when
we
moved
out
of
the
theatres",
RGV
puts
forth
his
way
of
looking
at
the
iconic
screen
villain.
Why
a
Sholay
remake?
"I
have
learnt
my
filmmaking
from
this
film.
I
have
grown
up
watching
this
movie.
We
all
have.
This
is
my
way
of
paying
tribute
to
the
most
inspiring
films
of
Hindi
cinema",
explains
Ramu
though
he
doesn't
credit
the
makers
of
the
original
anywhere
in
his
tribute
speech.
But
will
Amitabh
Bachchan
who
played
the
good
guy
in
the
original
film
be
able
to
pull
off
a
bad
man
in
the
remake?
Aren't
we
all
used
to
see
him
as
the
angry
young
man
fighting
for
a
good
cause
in
films?
Ramu
has
his
own
unique
way
of
looking
at
this
question.
"We
all
know
how
humble
and
modest
Amitabh
Bachchan
has
been
all
his
life.
But
somewhere
I
feel
there
is
a
lot
of
repressed
negativity
behind
his
humility.
I
will
try
my
best
to
use
this
negativity
in
favour
of
my
Gabbar
Singh".
As
expected,
the
filmmaker
isn't
willing
to
reveal
any
more
details
about
the
film
be
it
it's
remaining
cast,
crew
or
technique
of
execution.
So
skeptics
can
still
continue
the
argument
whether
Ramu
will
remake
Sholay?
But
despite
his
two
films
being
on
floors
-
Nishabd
(again
starring
Bachchan)
and
Darling
and
a
lineup
of
productions
in
the
making,
Sholay
is
the
project
RGV
is
most
excited
about.
(Somebody
should
learn
multitasking
from
him).
However,
if
at
all
the
cynical
media
is
subsequently
convinced
that
the
film
is
being
made,
they
can
debate
on
-
will
the
director
have
a
self-obsessed
title
like
'Ram
Gopal
Varma
Ke
Sholay'
or
change
it
consequently.
Gabbar
Singh's
new
look
Recent
Stories
Bollywood
Blitzkrieg:
The
first
time
"I'm
petrified
of
facing
the
camera"
-
SLB