Ram Gopal Varma has always confessed his admiration for the late Sridevi. However, his candid reflections in his memoir, Guns and Thighs: The Story of My Life stirred controversy, particularly over the language he used to describe his fascination with her beauty and talent. Reports at the time suggested that her husband, Boney Kapoor, had labelled him “crazy, bonkers, and a pervert” in response to what he had said. In a recent conversation, Varma addressed the reported fallout. When asked whether he had met Boney after the controversy and how he reacted to the book, Varma replied, “Yes, I met him. I keep meeting him even now. I spoke to him just a month back.” On being questioned if Boney confronted him, he said, “No nothing, they all know me from some 30 years.”Varma maintained that there is no lingering tension between them and suggested that misunderstandings often arise due to third-party interpretations. “Most of the time when suppose someone is not available and they are asked, ‘You know what Ramu said?’ That will sometimes kind of provoke them to say ‘what is wrong with him’ and all that. But after that in a phone call, it will get sorted out.” When asked whether matters were eventually resolved, he simply answered, “Yes.”He was also asked about a previous remark suggesting he would not work with Janhvi Kapoor because she does not remind him of Sridevi. Clarifying his stance, Varma said, “I didn’t say that. I mean, I have no project with her. That’s all. I never compared her to Sridevi.” When further asked whether Khushi Kapoor reminds him of the legendary actor, he responded, “no”.In his memoir, Varma devoted passages to Sridevi, with whom he collaborated on Kshana Kshanam and Govinda Govinda. Writing about her, he stated, “She is one of the sexiest and most beautiful women God ever created, and I think he creates such exquisite pieces of art only once in a million years.” Calling Kshana Kshanam “my love letter to her,” he recalled, “We were shooting for the climax of the movie in Nandyal, and the whole town came to a standstill. Banks, government offices, schools, colleges, everything in town stopped functioning as everyone wanted to see Sridevi.”He further wrote, “The woman who was the object of lust of the entire nation’s male population, was suddenly left all alone in the world till Boney Kapoor stepped in to fill the vacuum. So, straight from her superstardom, magazine covers and her dazzling beauty on the silver screen, I saw her in Boney’s house serving tea like an ordinary housewife. I hated Boney Kapoor for bringing that angel down from heaven to such an ordinary, humdrum existence.”
