Copying a Playstation 3 ad is a new low for Ram Gopal Varma
Plagiarism by Indian filmmakers, at this point, is a permanent fixture in the system and not a bug. Of course they always claim that they were inspired, but hardly any of them admit, thought it is clearly evident, that they lifted off their ideas from someone else’s hard work. Carrying forward this glorious tradition of ripping off of others is none other than the eccentric filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma.
Varma, who is notorious for being belligerent on social media, has made a career out of making films on about the dark, underbelly of politics and gang-wars. Earlier today, on November 7, Varma announced his first international project: Nuclear.
The 54-year-old filmmaker took to Twitter to announce this Rs 340 crore project that would be shot in America, China, Russia, Yemen and of course, India. The film deals with global terrorism.
Nuclear to be shot in America,China,Russia,Yemen nd india with American,Chinese,Russian nd Indian actors #RGVNUCLEAR pic.twitter.com/0wiU8MuIeQ
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) November 7, 2016
“I have been an avid and voracious reader of both fiction and non-fiction but never in my life until now, have I come across a subject matter like Nuclear. Yes it’s going to be much more costlier than the most expensive film ever made in India and the reason for that is because the subject matter truly demands that it is filmed on a scale never before seen,” said Varma on his website.
Varma tweeted a little bit about the film’s plot through a poster: “An atomic bomb smuggled into Mumbai. Demand for evacuation of Kashmir. Pakistan denies involvement and America steps in. America convinces India and Pakistan to forge forces. At stake are millions of lives, and the beginning of World War III.”
While this plot sound like a run-on-the-mill global terrorism plot that can fit into any generic James Bond/ Mission Impossible/ or even Robert Langdon movie franchise, the first strike for plagiarism goes to the movies poster.
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| The 54-year-old filmmaker took to Twitter to announce his Rs 340 crore international project, Nuclear. [Photo: Indiatoday.in] |
The poster features Mumbai burning in a nuclear explosion with a mushroom cloud rising above it. The people witnessing it from a distance (villagers by the looks of it) are running away in fear. Varma does paint a pretty ominous picture, one must agree. A closer look at the poster reveals what exactly has been plagiarised. If one observes the mushroom cloud, they would be able to see a face of a clown emerging out of the texture of the smoke. And THAT is exactly what the filmmaker has stolen.
RGV's new movie poster (uploaded today) vs a PS3 ad (2007) ???????????????????????????????? @RGVzoomin pic.twitter.com/nmkBorVeGe
— Jugal (@joogasama) November 7, 2016
The Mushroom Clown was developed at the French advertising agency TBWA Paris by creative director Erik Vervroegen, art director Philippe Taroux, copywriter Benoit Leroux, account manager Anne Vincent and 3D designer/photographer Thomas Mangold for Sony as part of the launch of the Playstation 3 in 2007.
The advertisement even won three awards at the International ANDY Awards in 2008.
Now what exactly is the PS3 clown doing in Ram Gopal Varma’s upcoming movie? Does it have a specific purpose? Is the secret atomic bomb that will destroy the city of Mumbai, hidden inside the gaming console? Or maybe Mr Varma is a big fan of the gaming console and this is a secret homage? It’s a little unlikely.
What is more likely that the people who designed the poster did not expect the rest of us to be that observant; or that they were too cheap to buy a good stock photo off of the many image subscription websites available and picked up the first high resolution photo they found on Google.
If it’s the latter, it really begs the question: What on earth did you spend Rs 340 crore on if you don’t have enough money to buy a stock image?
Of course, this is not even the first time something was plagiarised in a Ram Gopal Varma movie. Waht is more curious, that this bit of rip off comes from a videogame. The main musical theme of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne - a third person shooter game of cult popularity - was copied note for note and presented as the "original" soundtrack in Ram Gopal Varma's 2013 ducudrama The Attacks of 26/11.
Amar Mohile, the composer of this super original soundtrack better have some good explaination for this. Maybe there's a diehard gamer in the RGV camp who is slipping in these "homages". Who knows?