Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.
Company is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language gangster film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and written by Jaideep Sahni. The film stars Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, Manisha Koirala, Antara Mali and Seema Biswas. It is the second film in the Indian Gangster trilogy, and a sequel to Satya (1998). Company follows Chandu, a henchman of a gangster named Malik, with whom he forms a rapport that eventually falls apart after tension arises between them.
Kshana Kshanam is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language road thriller and heist film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Venkatesh, Sridevi, Paresh Rawal, and Rami Reddy. The plot follows Satya (Sridevi), a young woman who is hounded by a gang of robbers headed by Nayyar (Rawal) and the police. With the help of a pickpocketer Chandu (Venkatesh), she escapes into the forests.
Isha Koppikar is an Indian actress, model and politician who has appeared in Hindi films, along with Tamil films. She has also featured in several Telugu, Kannada and Marathi films.
Bhoot (transl. Ghost) is a 2003 Indian supernatural horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and stars an ensemble cast of Ajay Devgn, Urmila Matondkar, Nana Patekar, Rekha, Fardeen Khan and Tanuja. It was the second horror film made by Ram Gopal Verma after Raat. It was perceived to be different from a typical Hindi film as it did not contain songs. It was later dubbed in Telugu as 12 Va Anthasthu and remade in Tamil as Shock.
Satya (transl. Truth) is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language crime film, produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma; written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap. It stars J. D. Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar with Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Shrivastava and Paresh Rawal. It is the first of Varma's Gangster trilogy about organised crime in India. The film follows Satya (Chakravarthy), an immigrant who comes to Mumbai looking for a job, befriends Bhiku Mhatre (Bajpayee) and is drawn into the Mumbai underworld.
Darna Zaroori Hai is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language anthology horror film produced by Ram Gopal Varma. The film is a sequel to Darna Mana Hai. It stars a host of Bollywood actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu, Randeep Hooda, Arjun Rampal, Mallika Sherawat, Sonali Kulkarni, Rajpal Yadav and more. The film was archived at the New York Institute of Technology, as part of the film course.
Qayamat: City Under Threat is an Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Harry Baweja released on 11 July 2003. It is a remake of the 1996 film The Rock.
D is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Vishram Sawant, co-written by Manish Gupta and Ram Gopal Varma. Produced by Varma and Ronnie Screwvala, it was released in India on 3 June 2005. It is the third film in the Gangster film series.
Darling is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language horror film starring Esha Deol, Fardeen Khan and Isha Koppikar, and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. It was shot in Mumbai, India. The soundtrack was composed by Himesh Reshammiya and Pritam. Released on 7 September 2007, the film was average grosser grossed Rs. 22 million in the first week.
Ab Tak Chhappan is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Shimit Amin. It was written by Sandeep Shrivastava and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It starred Nana Patekar in the lead role. It also starred Revathi, Yashpal Sharma, Mohan Agashe, Nakul Vaid, and Hrishitaa Bhatt in supporting roles.
Arjun is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Rahul Rawail and starring Sunny Deol and Dimple Kapadia.
Right Yaaa Wrong is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Neeraj Pathak, starring Sunny Deol and Irrfan Khan along with Konkona Sen Sharma, Isha Koppikar, Aryan Vaid and Govind Namdeo. This film was shot in Film City and released on 12 March 2010, under the banner of Eros. The film is based on the 1995 American film Above Suspicion.
Department is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Rana Daggubati in lead roles. Released on 18 May 2012, the film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, and did not succeed at the box office.
Not A Love Story is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film inspired by the murder of Neeraj Grover in 2008 that led to the arrest of Emile Jerome Mathew and Maria Susairaj. Starring Mahie Gill, Deepak Dobriyal and Ajay Gehi and directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film was released on 19 August 2011. Ram Gopal Varma has announced that the film is not a biopic but is inspired by the case.
Gangster is an Indian Hindi and Telugu-language crime thriller franchise written, directed and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It is based on the Indian mafia organization D-Company, known to be run by Dawood Ibrahim. The first film came in 1998: the critically acclaimed Satya, later followed by Company and then the prequel D, with storylines based on the Mumbai underworld. Satya has won six Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for Best Film. These three films make up the original Gangster trilogy.
Mumbai Saga is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language action crime film directed by Sanjay Gupta and produced by T-Series. It features an ensemble cast of John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Kajal Aggarwal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rohit Roy, Anjana Sukhani, Prateik Babbar, Samir Soni, Amole Gupte and Gulshan Grover. Set in the '80s and '90s, Mumbai Saga shows changing phases of Bombay by closing mills to make malls and high-rise buildings.
12 'O' Clock is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and starring Mithun Chakraborty, Flora Saini, Manav Kaul, Krishna Gautam and Makarand Deshpande. The film was first announced with the name Geher, but the following trailer revealed it had been renamed 12 'O' Clock on 3 July 2020. It was released in India on 8 January 2021.
Keshava is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Sudheer Varma. It stars Nikhil Siddhartha in the title role along with Ritu Varma and Isha Koppikar. It revolves around a law student who wants to avenge the death of his family but suffers from a rare congenital disorder Dextrocardia, which prevents him from activities resulting in a faster heart beat. It is produced by Abhishek Nama on Abhishek Pictures banner. Dialogues were written by Krishna Chaitanya and Arjun-Carthyk, while the music was composed by Sunny M.R. and the cinematography was by Divakar Mani.
