Director Ram Gopal Varma opened up about his own grief and expressed his personal response after watching Michael, adding that he could not help but recall the memories of the great pop icon, Michael Jackson, while viewing the movie.
It has been well-received by global audiences and has been heartened by the support of Indian celebrities like Farah Khan and Anupam Kher, Varma says has been a whirl of emotions. The director posted a lengthy message on Instagram to share that the experience of going back into Jackson’s life through the film shook him to his core when he learned of the singer’s death on June 25, 2009.
Varma said that when he woke up to watch the news on TV about Michael Jackson’s death, it was initially a dream. He then complained that he was endlessly flipping through the channels in disbelief, waiting for the stories to be false, but the world’s biggest music star was actually dead.
The director also spoke of his youthful memories of how Michael Jackson has inspired him. He recalled that at his engineering college days at Vijayawada in 1984, he first saw the music video “Thriller” of Jackson in a small video parlour.
Varma said that the experience was an eye opener for him and how he now thinks about music, dance and visual story telling. He said that Jackson’s acting, dancing and screen presence was “divine” and he was “inspired” by it personally and creatively.
Stating his emotional dilemma, Varma noted that the biopic “brought up a lot of emotions” and that the singer “betrayed the fantasy and admiration that I had been having for decades”, at the same time reminding him of the huge impact he had on an entire generation.