Director Ram Gopal Varma’s upcoming film ‘Saree’ is set for a pan-Indian release on February 28. In anticipation of the release, he is actively promoting the movie in multiple languages. During a recent interview, the director shared some insights on his experience working with Malayalam superstar Mohan Lal in the 2002 crime thriller Company.
In a recent interview with Milestone Makers Max, Varma recalled narrating the script to Mohan Lal. He said, “I thought he would ask me many complicated questions about the script and his role in the Company. I was kind of prepared for that, and after finishing the narration, the first and only question he asked me was, “Sir, how many days do you want?” So that was an anticlimax for me. I’m sure he does it with everyone, not only with me, because I think he’s an actor who understands the craft and how films are made. I think he does it on trust.
Varma went on to explain that during the shoot, he had issues at first with Mohan Lal’s acting style. He said, “When he was performing, I had issues in the beginning. I thought he was not doing in the right way what I thought. I was going on asking him for more takes, and after taking 6 or 7 takes, when I checking them I found that the first take was the best of what he gave. Directors have this habit of visualizing how the actors should do it and whether he is copying certain expressions and gestures that what I said. It took me some time to come out of my mental block that what I thought it should be and then to freshly see it from a normal perspective. He is a very instinctive actor”
