'Dhurandhar' will give rise to new crop of directors: Ram Gopal Varma
Mumbai (PTI): Comparing “Dhurandhar” to his cult classic “Satya”, Ram Gopal Varma says he feels glad that the 1998 gangster drama served as the baseline for Aditya Dhar who, he believes, has changed the grammar of commercial filmmaking.
Varma has been effusive in his praise for Dhar, who has written, directed and co-produced "Dhurandhar" and its follow-up "Dhurandhar: The Revenge".
The second part of the Ranveer Singh-starrer released in theatres on March 19 and has already collected more than Rs 145 crore on its opening day.
“‘Dhurandar’ is not just a film, it changed the grammar, it changed people's mindset. It will definitely give rise to a new crop of directors, taking this as a benchmark,” Varma told PTI in an interview.
The filmmaker is known for revolutionising the gangster genre with “Satya”, a Mumbai-set crime drama that redefined realism in Hindi cinema and introduced a character-driven narrative. The film featured J D Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla and Urmila Matondkar.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, "Dhurandhar" is a spy action thriller in which an Indian agent, Jaskirat Singh Rangi aka Hamza Ali Mazari, goes deep undercover inside Karachi's criminal underworld and then works to dismantle a terror network targeting India.
The narrative draws on the backdrop of real events including the IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
“In today’s directors, after having seen ‘Dhurandhar’ I feel he (Aditya) is way up...I remember telling Aditya about how he has managed to up the whole thing of what I started with ‘Satya’... If ‘Satya’ is one, then I would say it is (‘Dhurandhar’) 10x. I told him all this,” said Varma, also known for 90s and early 2000s crime dramas such as “Shiva”, “Rangeela”, “Company” and “Sarkar” franchise.
When asked about fans pointing out similarities between “Satya” and “Dhurandhar” in many reels on social media, Varma said every filmmaker gets inspired by the work of their predecessors.
“‘Satya’ also took it from ‘The Godfather’. Everyone will take it from somewhere, that is a part of being a filmmaker,” he said, adding he is rather impressed with the man who posted the reel.
Actors R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi returned for the second part, which is produced by Aditya Dhar, Jyoti Deshpande and Lokesh Dhar.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
