Trust Ram Gopal Varma to singlehandedly promote his film in the most unexpected manner.
On Sunday, the director uploaded a video of himself on his Instagram profile in which he is seen beating up a gang of men against a rousing background score. In the caption, he refers to the men as “imaginary protesters” who are opposing his upcoming film, God, Sex and Truth, starring pornographic actress Mia Malkova.
The video, shot in a room, features a group of men fighting amongst themselves. Varma looks on for a while before he throws a punch that lands on his victim with a sound effect. He unleashes his wrath upon a few other unsuspecting protestors before the video freezes. Varma is seen in colour, while the rest of the video is rendered black and white.
Women’s groups, including the Vishakhapatnam branch of the All India Women’s Democratic Association, and the BJP Mahila Morcha, have held protests against the explicit content in the movie’s trailer.
Varma has stoked the flames, declaring in a statement that the movie has “explicit nude imagery which will showcase each and every part of Mia Malkova’s beautiful naked body in a never before seen magnificence”.
Varma’s penchant for making the most outrageous remarks on Twitter, and outside of it, is now part of contemporary lore in Indian cinema. So is his love for pornography, philosophy and Bruce Lee. With God, Sex and Truth, all his interests have come together.
The film has been billed as a “philosophical treatise of Mia Malkova” and its trailer features quotes from personalities from diverse fields such as Sigmund Freud, Henry Miller, Emma Witherspoon, Woody Allen, Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner. The one common factor between all six quotes is the word “sex”, begging one to think that Varma went on BrainyQuote, searched “sex”, and pulled out the first six results and put them in the trailer.
With his Instagram video, Varma has also done his bit to channel his inner Bruce Lee, of whom he is a big fan. He dedicated his autobiography, Guns and Thighs, to Lee and pornographic actress Tori Black, among others.
