Aug 17, 2026 10:30am IST
Ram Gopal Varma On The Sridevi Biography: ‘I Am Told My Chapter Is The Best’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Ram Gopal Varma is not really super-charged about the Sridevi biography “The Empress” by Dhiraj U. Kumarr, which was announced on her birth anniversary on 13 August by Priyanka Chopra.
“I have contributed one chapter to the book,” he confirms, but maintains, “I didn’t know it was called ‘Empress.’ Is it ‘Empress’? Okay, I guess she was that. Although I’d have preferred Screen Queen, she was that, the others all came after her.”
Did he think of Sridevi on her birth anniversary, maybe watch some of her films? “No! I don’t think of dead people at all. Once they are gone, they are out of my life. I would rather focus on my own life than think of the dead. I am fully into shooting (sic) my film ‘Police Company’ with Harshvardhan Rane.”
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Though he does confess to watching Sri’s films. “So many years have passed since she died. Even now, I am unable to understand what she did on screen. For example, that Charlie Chaplin sequence in Mr India….It is impossible to understand the craft behind something like that. She is phenomenal beyond any actor I’ve directed.”
For those who came in late, Ramu directed Sridevi in “Kshanam Kshanam.” He shares, “I got to direct her only once. It was more than enough proof what she could do. For every scene she had 15-20 interpretations and expressions. Working with her was like staying at a 7-star hotel. You were spoilt for life.”
He recalls his first meeting with Sridevi. “I had gone to meet her at her residence in Chennai to sign her. I was sitting in the living room with her mother, while Sridevi just flitted in and out of the room as she was packing to catch a flight. Every time she came into the room, it was like a sudden rush of fresh invigorating breeze. I want her to come back to earth again. Just once. So that humanity would know she really existed.”
Returning to the book Ramu says, “I am told my chapter is the best.But then they must be saying the same to everyone who has contributed to it.”
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