by Subhash K Jha

In his usual restless manner Ramu has already moved on to his next project, a sequel to Sarkar which he starts shooting in July and in which he plans to portray Aishwarya Rai as never before.

"She will shock audiences. To say she'll be portrayed like never before would be an understatement. It would qualify as a totally unexpected character from her. Nobody would expect a looker like her to portray such a dark character.

In brief, I want to project her as the opposite of what Sanjay Bhansali did. Her beauty won''t be enchanced by filters and shaded lighting. She'll be totally without makeup. And that's when I think she looks her best."

Ask him if lookers can be brilliant actors, and Ramu quips, "Bad-looking people console themselves by believing only they can be good actors. If I had to be choose between a looker and an actor I'd go for a looker.

Good actors are a dime-a-dozen. Lookers are rare. Sure, my characters are scruffy. I like real people. And the more real she looks the more beautiful Aishwarya will be."

Why is he in such a hurry to start Sarkar 2? "Because I sat under a tree and I was enlightened. Jokes aside, Sholay is over for me. Why should I waste my time over release -technicalities? But Sholay is a fun film. Sarkar 2 is again a dark high-intensity drama, far more dramatic than the first Sarkar."

He divulges the plot for the first time. "It basically starts a few years after the first part. Mr Bachchan's character's powers are completely consolidated. Though semi-retired, he'd continue to rule from behind the scenes."

There's more shock value awaiting the unsuspected, when Ramu confesses his Sholay has moved as far away from the original as possible.

" I did what I wanted to do. One has to look at the genre to which Sholay belongs. It's in the same league as The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent 7 and Five -Man Army.

The earlier Sholay was inspired by those films. And I 'm also inspired by them. If that Sholay was set in rural India, this one moves to a highly urbanized Mumbai."

He then elaborates on his interpretative instincts. "See, my Bhoot was a remake of Raat. And both were inspired by The Exorcist. Do you see any similarity between my Sarkar and The Godfather?

By the same logic there's as much Sholay in my Sholay as there's Godfather in my Sarkar. I'd describe Sholay as potboiler.."

Ramu brushes off the allegation that he has moved Sholay to his comfort zone. "You mean the underworld? I don't think Ab Tak Chappan or Sarkar has anything to do with the underworld. Since my films have a raw edge and since I like to locate my plots in the darker regions people presume I revel in the underworld.

Sholay was set in the underworld but not like Satya. Just like a cop picture can be as varied as Zanjeer and Ab Tak Chappan, an underworld film can go from my Satya to Sholay. Sholay certainly didn't belong in the company of Company."