Special effects & social distancing: How Ram Gopal Varma shot India’s first ‘Covid film’

In an interview with ThePrint, Ram Gopal Varma discusses his latest production Coronavirus, shot entirely during lockdown, and the big cinema shift underway.

Film-maker Ram Gopal Varma shot a movie during the Covid-19 lockdown | Photo courtesy: Ram Gopal Varma

Bengaluru: It’s with dollops of scorn that film-maker Ram Gopal Varma addresses colleagues who took the Covid-19 lockdown as a break, and spent the time “sweeping floors and cooking food”. 

Because Varma, the brain behind cult classics such as Satya, Company, and Sarkar, himself spent the lockdown filming another movie. Titled Coronavirus, the film is scheduled for a release in theatres once they reopen.

When the rest of film people were SWEEPING FLOORS, COOKING FOOD ,WASHING UTENSILS , DRYING CLOTHES etc etc I MADE A FILM ??? #CORONAVIRUSFILM https://t.co/fun1EdkIgX pic.twitter.com/i8ME1eyP4h

— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 27, 2020

“I began work on the film a week after the lockdown and completed it during that time itself. I did not involve any of the film industry union members as they were not prepared for this challenge,” he told ThePrint in an interview, adding that the shoot was compliant with all Covid-related precautions.

While he is eyeing a theatre release for Coronavirus, Varma, addressed among fans as RGV, has emerged as a vocal champion of OTT platforms. 

His last production Climax, a horror film that stars the American adult movie star Mia Malkova, was released on an  ‘online theatre’ — viewers don’t have to subscribe, just pay for the movie they want to watch — called ‘Shreyas ET’. Varma has his own platform on Shreyas ET, called ‘RGV World Theatre’. 

OTT is a technology that’s here to stay, said Varma, adding that any resistance to the idea will dwindle with time.

According to Varma, 58, the Covid-19 situation has only accelerated the advent of OTT in the markets. 

“I honestly believe OTT would have taken 2-3 years more to have the kind of impact that we are seeing currently, but it would have come for sure,” he said in a phone interview from Hyderabad. “Covid only sped it up.” 

A Covid-compliant shoot

With his new film, RGV believes he has set a trend for shoots during Covid-19 times, as the industry may not see a return to normalcy for a very long time.

CORONAVIRUS film’s song releasing today at 5.30 pm ..it’s about abusing God for the horrendous torture he’s making all of us suffer non stop #CORONAVIRUS pic.twitter.com/iHjjT8AYEv

— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) June 12, 2020

However, it took some convincing to get the Coronavirus cast on board for the lockdown shoot, the director said. The movie centres on a family trying to find out if one of them has contracted the virus. RGV told his actors he would follow Covid-19 guidelines and use generous computer graphics and special effects for scenes that required close interactions. 

“The film is about coronavirus and was shot during the lockdown. So, by definition itself, it had to be shot with the guidelines in place. An ordinary normal film, one could not have pulled it off during times like this,” Varma said. 

“We always maintained a distance of 6 feet between each other and masks were worn throughout the film where groups were gathered,” he added.

“The lighting guys would come and set the lights and later the actors would stand in such a way that no two people were next to each other,” he said. “We had some shots where the actors were together… We would shoot it in separate places and match the background to make it one. All the communication, from the lighting to the sound to the direction, everything was done through web links,” he added. 

‘OTT here to stay’ 

Since the coronavirus pandemic put a wrench in the functioning of the film industry, there have been questions on when the industry can resume work and the changes that would have to be made in light of the present circumstances. 

With no clarity on when the pandemic will be controlled and no certainty on when cinema halls can reopen, many producers have been planning movie launches on OTT platforms. For example, the Amitabh Bachchan-Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Gulabo Sitabo was released straightaway on Amazon Prime Friday.

But the idea has met with resistance, especially from theatre owners, who are likely to be affected the most if producers start releasing new films on OTT apps, which, in the pre-Covid times, only hosted movies once they had completed their cinema-hall runs. 

In south India, theatre owners have expressed anger about the release of movies on OTT platforms first. Last month, the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association threatened to ban the films of southern superstar Suriya, or the ones produced by his company 2D films, if he bypassed a theatre launch and released Ponmagal Vandhal, starring his superstar wife Jyothika, directly on Amazon Prime.

But he went ahead nevertheless, as did the producers of Penguin (Tamil), French Biryani (Kannada), Law (Kannada) and Sufiyum Sujathayum (Malayalam), all of which have been released on OTT platforms. 

According to Varma, no serious film-maker will resist OTT platforms as it is a technology that has come to stay. Speaking about the resistance, he added, “I think it is a knee-jerk reaction towards this technology and I don’t think any serious film-maker will resist OTT.

“OTT has already become part of our lives. Any kind of new technology will always be faced with resistance,” he said. “History has indicated that. First, we had stage plays, then the theatres came, then the multiplexes and now the OTTs. There could be something else later. Every technology will make a victim of the previous technology, ultimately people relent,” he added. 

However, he said he would continue to make movies for all platforms, adding that it is for the viewer to decide where they want to see a movie. 

“Film-makers are a production line. It’s just like how one wants to sell stuff, One can choose to seek it on the street, in a shop, in a mall or deliver it online to the customers doorstep. Ultimately the customer gets the product. The same is with films. Ultimately, it’s the audience who watches it and we should be prepared,” he said .

“The primary reason for directors to make movies is for people to watch. It’s ok, whether people want to watch it on a cellphone, an iPad, a TV or a big screen. It will benefit the producers if they design a movie for OTTs and take theatres as a bonus,” Varma said. 

He added that changes in technologies also ushered in shifts in viewing habits. 

“First, there were TVs and VCRs and now there are OTTs — all this changes our viewing habits. We all used to believe that a film of two hours was very boring and we used to cut down the length,” he added.

“Some people watch good shows on OTTs for days together — that completely changes the pattern for what the film industry believes so far. It looks like, if the content is interesting, people don’t mind any length.” 

“It is the viewers choice where he wants to see the movie,” he said.