Ram Gopal Varma says Vidhu Vinod Chopra ‘believes he’s the best filmmaker’; Anurag Kashyap opens up about quitting Mission Kashmir with him

Renowned filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Ram Gopal Varma recently shared their experiences of working with filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Anurag recalled walking away from Chopra’s film Mission Kashmir. He shared how the decision to leave eventually led to his directorial debut. He had written a script for director Shivam Nair for television, and at that time, he had to leave Vidhu’s Mission Kashmir. He later asked Shivam if he could direct his own script, to which Shivam happily agreed.
Anurag Kashyap about Vidhu's 12th Fail

In a conversation with India TV, Kashyap also expressed appreciation for Chopra’s creative brilliance. “The child in him is still alive. His self-obsession and vanity co-exist,” he shared. The director recollected a scene from Chopra’s recent hit film 12th Fail, where Vikrant Massey’s character is seen going to Uttarakhand, and the single-shot scene was well-designed. “When he’s at his peak craftsmanship, you do admire him,” he noted.




Ram Gopal Varma about 'Mission Kashmir's narration

At the same time, Ram Gopal Varma shared a light-hearted incident from a script narration session for Mission Kashmir. He hilariously misunderstood the word shikara (a houseboat), thinking it referred to shikari (hunter). When Vidhu said, “The shikara blows up,” in the middle of the narration, Ram asked him why the hunter got killed.

Varma went on to describe Chopra’s furious reaction to the mix-up. “He was so angry with me (laughs)… I screwed up the entire narration. He was so angry with me that I thought he was about to hit me or something!”

Ram further added, “He genuinely believes that he’s the best filmmaker in the world. Whether he is or not, I’m not going to say that. But I don’t think any other filmmaker in the world would believe that,” he stated.
About Mission Kashmir

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Mission Kashmir, released in 2000, featured Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni in key roles.