Ironical as it may seem, Ram Gopal Varma's prized and most promising discovery Mohit Ahlawat is being introduced in "James" next week with the catch line, "The Rising of a hero". It's obviously a mocking reference to challenge Aamir Khan and "Mangal Pandey - The Rising" out of their epic proportions.

This isn't the first time that the deviously iconoclastic Varma has taken on the cinematic establishment.

In "Rangeela" an actress, played by Shefali Chhaya, calls off the shooting for a minor reason. The incident was inspired by Moushumi Chatterjee, who had once apparently called off shooting until she was provided juice of an un-seasonal fruit from the other end of town.

In "Main Madhuri Dixit Banana Chahti Hoon", a film director was shown cooing, "It's all about loving your parents" -- a straight reference to Karan Johar and "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham".

"Road" had a petrol pump attendant played by Rajpal Yadav, who's a crazy fan of Devdas and "D" had a stud-hero being beaten up black and blue by a politician's son.

Boney Kapoor was extremely miffed when, in Varma's "Mast", an auto-rickshaw driver grumbled, "Why did Sridevi have to marry Boney Kapoor?"

But never before has Varma taken on a film and its hero with such headlong insouciance.

With a grin, the ever-enterprising Ramu says, "Where can I compete with a 400-million rupee historical? I've neither the money nor the patience for such epic works. I don't even know who Mangal Pandey is. History was my weakest subject in school. The only history I know is what came into our cinema after "Sholay".

"I've no lofty ambitions of making history. "James" is an urban, contemporary, full-on masala film with action, romance, sex and other spices. True, the promos of 'James' have my hero emerging from the dunes just like Mr. Aamir Khan in Mangal Pandey. But Mr. Khan walks out of the dunes whereas my hero Mohit Ahlawat runs out of the dunes.

"That's because he's a 6-foot-2-inch, young, and energetic hunk with the best body in town... I repeat, the best physique in tinsel town."

But the catch-line with a prominent reference to "The Rising" does seem to deliberately provoke a comparison between the two films.

"That's because my hero rises in the film from nowhere to challenge the establishment. In that sense, James is my Mangal Pandey."

"James" was originally scheduled for release with "Mangal Pandey - The Rising" on Aug 13. "But we needed more time for promotion. It's now being released on Sep 16. I've never been more excited about any of my discoveries. Mohit Ahlawat will take the industry by storm."