Filmmaker
Ram
Gopal
Varma,
who
was
embroiled
in
controversy
for
his
objectionable
tweets
on
Lord
Ganesh,
believes
in
freedom
of
expression.
He
says
expressing
what
he
feels
in
a
manner
he
likes,
is
the
way
he
enjoys
being.
On
Sunday,
he
was
booked
under
four
sections
of
the
Indian
Penal
Code
with
a
complainant
alleging
that
he
hurt
the
religious
sentiments
of
Hindus
by
insulting
Lord
Ganesh
through
his
series
of
tweets.
In
an
interview,
he
has
spoken
about
his
controversial
tweets,
his
films
and
his
lack
of
camaraderie
with
people
in
the
film
industry.
Continue
to
read
the
excerpts
from
Ram
Gopal
Varma's
interview
to
IANS.
You've
done
it
again,
stirred
up
a
huge
controversy,
this
time
with
your
remarks
on
Lord
Ganesh?
The
moment
you
say,
time
and
again
it
also
means
that
it's
a
part
of
my
nature
and
inner
personality
to
express
what
I
feel
in
a
manner
I
chose
to.
And
this
is
not
the
first
time
I've
done
this.
If
people
are
interested,
they
can
go
and
check
my
tweets
in
the
last
four
years
and
they
will
find
many
similar
ones.
Are
you
proud
of
offending
people?
It's
the
way
I
am.
If
you
remember,
there
was
a
huge
furore
over
an
abusive
word
I
used
against
Amitabh
Bachchan.
Everybody
got
into
a
frenzy
except
him,
whereas
in
reality,
he
should
have
been
the
only
one
to
get
upset.
He
didn't
get
upset
only
because
he
knew
and
understood
the
context.
I
believe
you
are
getting
a
lot
of
death
threats
after
your
Ganesh
tweets.
Doesn't
this
kind
of
situation
scare
you?
It's
not
true
that
I
got
death
threats...
as
per
the
random
comments
from
unknowns
on
the
social
network,
everyone
knows
that
those
are
just
wild
snarls
from
a
hideout
of
anonymity.
A
lot
of
people
believe
you
deliberately
provoke
people
with
your
tweets
to
get
attention?
People
will
believe
what
they
want
to
believe
irrespective
of
what
I
say.
So
there's
no
point
in
saying
anything.
Are
you
anti-religion
or
just
a
cynic?
Don't
you
think
it's
wrong
to
attack
religious
beliefs?
I
am
anti-anything
I
don't
agree
with
and
I
am
not
attacking
anything
or
anyone
other
than
just
expressing
my
opinions
which
I
have
a
right
to
do
like
any
one
else
in
a
free
democratic
country.
You've
been
missing
from
Mumbai
for
nearly
six
months
now?
Have
you
decided
to
quit
Hindi
films
and
make
only
Telugu
films?
I
wanted
to
take
some
time
off
from
Hindi
films
and
reinvent
myself
in
terms
of
doing
very
different
kind
of
genres
from
what
I
have
been
doing.
Your
new
Telugu
film
Ice
Cream
flopped.
You
apparently
threw
a
party
celebrating
the
failure.
What
does
this
mean?
This
is
the
funniest
thing
I've
heard.
Ice
Cream
is
probably
the
biggest
hit
in
a
ratio
of
investment
versus
return.
And
my
proof
of
that
is
Ice
Cream
2
is
just
being
wrapped
up.
Have
your
friends
from
the
Mumbai
film
industry
kept
in
touch
with
you
while
you
are
stationed
in
Hyderabad?
I
don't
have
any
friends
and
never
had.
Don't
you
feel
isolated
from
the
entertainment
industry
by
your
own
cynicism
and
sharp
tongue?
A.
I
like
being
myself,
by
myself
and
I
live
for
myself
and
I
don't
have
time
or
mind-space
for
people
who
waste
their
time
and
mind-space
thinking
about
me.