Chennai, Jan 22 (IANS): Well known director Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya confession post on X has had an impact on several professionals associated with the film industry including distributor Mahendra Soni, who has now thanked the ace director for being the spark behind so many stories.
Responding to RGV’s lengthy confession post on X, Mahendra Soni wrote, “Reading your confession about ‘Satya’ brought back so many memories, Ramu sir. Just like you found your voice with ‘Satya’, we found ours through a bittersweet experience with ‘Rangeela’. Life truly has a strange way of shaping dreams.”
The distributor then went on to recall what had happened when he wished to distribute Rangeela.
He wrote, “I still remember this vividly - @shrikantmohta
and I, barely 22 or 23, stepping into Jhamu Sughand sir’s office after the massive success of ‘Bombay’, as two young distributors from Kolkata. You were making ‘Rangeela’ at the time, and you were there in the office. Seeing young movie distributors for a change, you took us to the edit suite and showed us a rough cut of ‘Mangta Hai Kya’ and ‘Hai Rama’ on a small monitor.
“We had never seen anything like it - bold, graceful, and elevated by Rahman’s sir’s groundbreaking sound. Watching our reactions, you knew you had created something extraordinary, something that had already found its audience.
“We were ecstatic - confirmed the deal and even took the poster home with dreams of releasing it. But being new in the trade, we were soon outbid by another distributor. The sheer pain of losing ‘Rangeela’ hit us hard when the poster was taken down from our Chandni Chowk office. It wasn’t the only heartbreak, as something similar happened with another film.”
However, these disappointments turned into turning points, recalled Mahendra Soni. He said, “But those moments became turning points for us. They pushed us to dream bigger, to take control of our own destiny, and to create our own films in Bengali. That heartbreak gave birth to a journey that has now grown to 180 films and counting. Thank you for being the spark behind so many stories, Ramu sir. Moments like these remind us why we love what we do. @SVFsocial”