Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has confirmed that he contributed one chapter to Sridevi’s upcoming biography, ‘The Empress’, written by Dhiraj U. Kumarr, which was announced by Priyanka Chopra on the late actor’s birth anniversary on August 13, according to Variety India.
“I have contributed one chapter to the book,” Varma said. “I didn’t know it was called ‘Empress.’ Is it ‘Empress’? Okay, I guess she was that. Although I’d have preferred ‘Screen Queen’, she was that, the others all came after her.”
Asked whether he thought about Sridevi on her birth anniversary or watched any of her films, Varma said, “No! I don’t think of dead people at all. Once they are gone, they are out of my life. I would rather focus on my own life than think of the dead. I am fully into shooting my film ‘Police Company’ with Harshvardhan Rane.”
He, however, admitted to watching Sridevi’s films. “So many years have passed since she died. Even now, I am unable to understand what she did on screen. For example, that Charlie Chaplin sequence in Mr India… It is impossible to understand the craft behind something like that. She is phenomenal beyond any actor I’ve directed,” he said.
Varma, who directed Sridevi in Kshanam Kshanam, said, “I got to direct her only once. It was more than enough proof what she could do. For every scene she had 15-20 interpretations and expressions. Working with her was like staying at a 7-star hotel. You were spoilt for life.”
Recalling his first meeting with Sridevi, Varma said, “I had gone to meet her at her residence in Chennai to sign her. I was sitting in the living room with her mother, while Sridevi just flitted in and out of the room as she was packing to catch a flight. Every time she came into the room, it was like a sudden rush of fresh invigorating breeze. I want her to come back to earth again. Just once. So that humanity would know she really existed.”
Returning to the book, Varma said, “I am told my chapter is the best. But then they must be saying the same to everyone who has contributed to it.”
Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Ram Gopal Varma to direct Harshvardhan Rane in Police Company, based on Daya Nayak’s life
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