Packing a punch: In Chandigarh to promote his film Ladki: Enter The Girl Dragon along with heroine Pooja Bhalekar, director Ram Gopal Varma says it’s his most ambitious project till date

Sheetal

HE has dabbled in many genres, from political sagas to horror flicks to love stories to psychological thrillers. Now, director Ram Gopal Varma has come up with a film based on martial arts titled Ladki: Enter The Girl Dragon. In Chandigarh for the promotion of the same with debutant heroine Pooja Bhalekar, Varma shares that he gets bored easily and in order to keep himself entertained, he likes to reinvent and think of different stories.

“I was a tremendous fan of Bruce Lee during childhood and was also into martial arts” Ram Gopal Varma

Ask him why a debutant as the lead and he adds, “Any known actor comes with a prior baggage. With new actors, there is a certain rawness on screen, which is needed in projects such as Ladki.” The film will release in theatres on July 15.

About his successful ventures, such as Rangeela and Satya, he says he has done every project with the same sincerity. “It’s just like when you raise a baby you don’t know what he or she is going to be, but you give the best during the upbringing. In the same way, you don’t think about the end result while making a film.”

The director also announced that there is a sequel of Ladki already in the making with the script in place, but when asked whether Rangeela would ever have a sequel he points out, “Rangeela is synonymous with Urmila Mantondkar and there won’t be any sequel of it ever.”

The filmmaker also revealed that the film will have the widest release simultaneously for any Indian movie, stating that the Chinese version of the film will be released in over 40,000 screens in China itself. “It’s my most ambitious project till date. I was a tremendous fan of Bruce Lee during childhood and was also into martial arts. But on July 15, I will accomplish my dream and distribute the film worldwide. I also shot the film in China and used Chinese actors, which is nothing short of a dream come true,” he adds.

Dashing lady

Pooja Bhalekar is thrilled to be the lead heroine. “It is a film about a girl who has to choose between her real love and that for Bruce Lee. I am glad that RGV sir chose me,” she says.

For the film, she learnt Jeet Kune Do for three years. She adds, “I started learning taekwondo at the age of seven or eight, which was an off-shoot of my interest in yoga during school. It has been fourteen years of training since then. And to prepare for a film based on martial arts, I trained in Jeet Kune Do for three years. Our love for Bruce Lee made it a reality!”