Ram Gopal Varma announces ‘Sarkar 4’, set to begin shooting next month

MUMBAI: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has announced the next instalment of his acclaimed political crime franchise, ‘Sarkar 4’.

Speaking at the opening day of the Red Lorry Film Festival, Ram Gopal Varma shared that he will begin the sequel’s shooting from next month. “I am making Sarkar 4. I’m starting that next month,” he said, answering a query. He also spoke about his other project titled ‘The Syndicate’, which Varma joked would “wash away all my sins.”

The original ‘Sarkar’ film came out in 2005, featuring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead as Subhash Nagre. Abhishek Bachchan was also a part of the film, playing his onscreen son Shankar. The film’s sequel, ‘Sarkar Raj’ was released in 2008, expanding the universe with the addition of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Anita Rajan. The last film in the franchise, ‘Sarkar 3’, came out in 2017.

While Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan reprised their characters in the third instalment, the cast also featured Yami Gautam, Manoj Bajpayee, and Amit Sadh, among others.

Coming to the Red Lorry Film Festival, Varma was present at the festival for a special screening of his cult classic ‘Shiva’. Revisiting the film, the director spoke about the inspirations behind it, noting that legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg influenced his visual approach. “Certainly, some of the shots in Shiva were inspired by Spielberg’s style of shot-taking,” Varma said.

He also acknowledged that the film drew thematic inspiration from ‘The Way of the Dragon’, starring martial arts icon Bruce Lee. According to Varma, the idea came from adapting the core premise of that film into a completely different setting.

Varma heaped high praise on Aditya Dhar’s ‘Dhurandhar’, further adding that Steven Spielberg remains his all-time favourite filmmaker. He also described Dhar as one of the most promising talents from the current generation. (ANI)