Ram Gopal Varma is a film director, screenwriter and producer who has made films in Telugu and Hindi in a range of genres—psychological thrillers, gangster films, road movies, horror films and musicals. His first successful Hindi film was Shiva, but it was with Rangeela, which won Filmfare Awards for the lead actor and music director, that he truly gained recognition in Bollywood. His ‘gangster trilogy’, consisting of his masterpiece Satya along with Company and D, has garnered several Filmfare Awards, including a Critics Award for Best Film and a Best Director nomination. These films have, besides, been pioneers in their genre. The film Shool, that he wrote and produced, has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Ram Gopal Varma has also given breaks to many newcomers like Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap who have gone on to become independent writers and film directors of note.
