Cornered but defiant, RGV says 'hating Maria sells'

Ram Gopal Varma’s fascination with the dark side has taken a macabre turn. He has coincided the promotion of his next film, Not A Love Story, with the court verdict in the Neeraj Grover case. He has repeatedly said the film is inspired by the gruesome murder of the television executive, and not his story per se. The publicity hound in him used Twitter to declare his empathy towards Maria Susairaj, who though convicted, has been absolved of the murder charges in the Grover case. Varma said he wants to cast her in his next film. [caption id=“attachment_36620” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Varma has repeatedly said the film is inspired by the gruesome murder of the television executive, and not his story per se.Raju Shelar/Firstpost”]  [/caption] The controversial verdict, and the fact that show business wants to work with Susairaj in films ~and cast her as an inmate in the next season of the reality show, Bigg Boss,~ had people protesting outside Varma’s office in Andheri today morning.  (Note: On July 4, in a written statement, the spokesperson of Colors clarified, “There are numerous speculative stories on Maria Susairaj’s participation in Bigg Boss 5, we’d like to clarify we have neither approached Maria nor will be doing so in future.”) The protesters held placards that read ‘Casting Criminals in Films is a Crime’ and hurled abuses at Varma. The cine-wings of Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have also warned of action if anyone casts Susairaj in a film or a television show. Varma tweeted in his defence: “The bottom line is that hate is a marketable commodity nd right now hating Maria sells” to lambasting the media “Aftr cng ‘we the people’ barkha dutt show on susairaj case I realised tht ppl who knw least r the ones who speak with the most conviction”. Varma is now at the Versova police station to lodge a complaint against BJP Yuva Morcha President for threatening him with dire consequences. The Grover family is aghast at his statements but feel they can do little to stop Varma or anyone from making a quick buck from films based their son’s murder. They are concerned that their son, Neeraj, will be presented as some sort of casting couch fiend in the film Varma intends to make with Susairaj. Watch the trailer of and stills from the film Not a Love Story on RGV’s blog.