Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma holds a special place in the hearts of movie lovers for his contribution to the entertainment world since the 1990s. In a recent interview, he revealed that the political thriller ‘Sarkar’ was not initially planned to be made with Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. The original movie he had in mind was shelved, and he moved on with ‘Sarkar’, featuring Amitabh and Abhishek.
Speaking to Pinkvilla, RGV shared that ‘Sarkar’, which was heavily inspired by The Godfather, was initially planned as ‘Nayak’ in 1993. The film was set to star veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah and Sanjay Dutt. However, unforeseen circumstances led to its shelving. The director recalled that after Sanjay Dutt was arrested in connection with the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, the project had to be abandoned. Coincidentally, Dutt was making headlines at the time for his role in ‘Khalnayak’ (1993), as people found his character controversial.
While waiting for Sanjay, Ram Gopal Varma made the Telugu action comedy ‘Anaganaga Oka Roju’ in 1996, which became a super hit. When Sanjay was released, Ram decided to make the film an action comedy instead of a political thriller. As a result, he made ‘Daud’ in 1997, which, unfortunately, did not perform well at the box office. Daud featured Urmila Matondkar and Paresh Rawal alongside Sanjay.
RGV explained that his decision to move away from ‘Nayak’ was influenced by changing circumstances. “I made Daud only because Anaganaga Oka Roju worked. Thus, Nayak was shelved. Sanju was supposed to play Abhishek’s role, and Naseeruddin Shah was to portray Amitabh Bachchan’s character. Years later, I finally made it as Sarkar,” he added.
‘Nayak’ did not see the light of day, but ‘Sarkar’ became a critically acclaimed success and later spawned two sequels: ‘Sarkar Raj’ (2008) and ‘Sarkar 3 ‘(2017).
