No plans for Sarkar 4, says Ram Gopal Varma

By: Mohnish Singh

Known for helming some of the genre-defining films of Indian cinema, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has said that he has no intention of making another film in the Sarkar franchise.

An unofficial remake of the cult Hollywood film series The Godfather, the first part of the Sarkar franchise hit big screens in 2005 and turned out to be an instant hit at the domestic box-office.

Buoyed up by the terrific response that the first part generated, Varma returned with its sequel, Sarkar Raj, in 2008. The second installment, however, did not garner the same kind of rousing response from the audience. The lukewarm response, however, did not deter the filmmaker from helming the third part, titled Sarkar 3 (2017), which was panned by the audience and critics alike. All installments starred acting great Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role.

Telling an Indian daily that why he does not intend to take the Sarkar franchise forward, the filmmaker offers the comparison of The Godfather series and says, Sarkar 4 is not on top of my mind for sure, because it will be a case of overstretching a character and story. Even if you look at the three-film series of Godfather, no one let Francis Ford Coppola make part four. I am sure they did it with good reason. The more you stretch something, the more impact it loses.”

He goes on to add, “I would rather do something new, and explore a genre with Mr. Bachchan that I have not done before. I do not want to go back to him to do Sarkar for the fourth time. In fact, I had something in mind, but Covid-19 threw my plans off-gear. Once I complete my current lot of films, I will go back to what I have in mind for him.”

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