Pavin Ponanna dared to watch Phoonk alone

Egged on by the challenge thrown by director Ram Gopal Verma that his latest horror film 'Phoonk' was too scary to be watched all alone, a youth here has enjoyed the movie with not a single soul around, by booking an entire 227-seat theatre all for himself. The 30-year-old Pavin Ponanna, an advertising professional and a native of Madikere in Coorg district of Karnataka, booked the Inox theatre paying Rs 47,000 for a night show on Sunday and watched the entire film.

"It was a challenge that I dared to accept," says Pavin referring to Verma who dared that he would reward Rs five lakh to anyone who could watch the film alone. Though his apprehensive family offered a special pooja and insisted that he visit a place of worship before entering the theatre, Pavin said, he had little doubts he would emerge "unafraid".

"I came out unafraid, a celebrity", he said referring to the calls that poured in, after he came out of the theatre. Pavin said he would approach Verma to claim the award.

But is unsure of receiving it since the contest date was over. "I will ask Verma to hand over the reward or I would challenge him to make another film that was horrific enough to scare me," he says roaring in laughter.

Watch Phoonk and take away Rs 5 Lakhs

If Raat scared the living daylights out of us than Bhoot scared and terrorized people to the extreme with its dreadful expressions and loud background score, and in this way Ramu continued to petrify with his scary outings like Vaastu Shastra, Darna Mana Hai and Darna Zaroori Hai subsequently.

And now Ramu is all set to release his yet another horror flick Phoonk, a black magic film, which is touted as the scariest of all his horror genre movies till date. Infact so much upbeat is Ramu about Phoonk that he and his producer Azam Khan of One More Thought Entertainment are in a mood to test the real guts and courage. Apparently, the director and the producer have devised a daredevil challenge. According to the challenge the person who dares to watch Ramu's upcoming horror flick Phoonk all alone from start to finish in a theatre without getting out of the theatre will be rewarded with Rs. 5 lakhs from Ram Gopal Varma. The contest will be well-publicized and the necessary details will be given on the film's website.

Set against the backdrop of Black magic Phoonk is scheduled to release on August 22.

Ramu's "Phoonk" in Pics

Phoonk - Ramu's Next Venture

After the underworld, Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma is set to focus on black magic in his next film.

''Phoonk' is all about black magic. I am working with a new team. It's a subject I want to experiment with images and with characters. I can do that only with new people,' he told IANS in an interview here.

'Stars have certain baggage because of their stardom and their limitations about how far they can push their character,' explained Varma.

'Also, I don't give chances to people, I take chances,' maintained the director who premiered his much-talked about 'Sarkar Raj', starring Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend here.

He also showcased his next release 'Contract' Saturday.

How is 'Contract' different from his other films?

''Contract' is a basically about underworld-meets-terrorism,' Varma replied. 'I didn't deal with this link in my earlier films. 'Satya' gave an inside view of the underworld, 'Company' was an overview of its organisational structure.

'In 'Contract', I speak about what can happen when the underworld and terrorists come together on a platform.'

The film will be released in July.

Asked how he sourced information for his underworld dramas, Varma said: 'I mostly get information from the media. The media keeps reporting about what is happening and I just have to pick pieces from here and there and join it all together.

'I am interested in anything larger than life and people who create an impact, whether negative or positive. I am interested in doing a psychological study of these people,' he added.

Lately, the director has been ridiculed for making films like 'James' and 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag', but he says he makes film for his personal satisfaction and thus is not bogged down by criticism.

'I don't feel anything (about the criticism). I have a lot of fun while making a film. I enjoy every minute of it. I make films for my personal satisfaction.

'I am a storyteller. I have a story, various actors, situations and locations and I compile them all together to create a visual impact. That is my high in life,' Varma maintained.

A lot has been said about three Bachchans in 'Sarkar Raj' but that's no big deal for Varma.

'I don't have this sense of achievement that I brought the three Bachchans together. For me, they are three separate and highly professional actors.

'Whether they are in one family or not doesn't make a difference to me,' Varma contended.