Orson Welles should touch Rohit Shetty's feet: RGV

Ram Gopal Varma's tongue-in-cheek comments never fail to amuse. His latest target is director Rohit Shetty and his blockbuster hit "Chennai Express".

RGV has been posting his feedback on "Chennai Express" since Aug 23, and claims he has watched the Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone-starrer as many as five times - a good contribution perhaps to the over Rs.200 crore that the movie has minted at the box office since its release Aug 9.

"Congrats to Rohit Shetty for dumping 'Mughal E Azam', 'Sholay', DDLJ ('Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'), '3 Idiots', etc by the tracks and speeding Indian cinema ahead on 'Chennai Express'. Like the proof of the pudding is in eating, the greatness of cinema is in its success and by that yardstick, 'Chennai Express' is the greatest film," Varma posted on Twitter.

A comic action entertainer, the film is about a north Indian boy who falls in love with a south Indian girl, who is the daughter of a don. It was panned by critics, but loved by viewers.

On Aug 24, Varma tweeted: "Just walked out of fifth viewing of 'Chennai Express' and I want to touch Rohit Shetty's feet. Not since sex did I have more fun than 'Chennai Express'. If some of you didn't like 'Chennai...' in first viewing, my advice is to watch it four to five times, not because it's slow poison, but because it's slow moving fast poison.

"Most boring film I saw is 'Citizen Kane' (Orson Welles' first movie) and most entertaining is 'Chennai Express'. (American actor-director) Orson Welles should come back from dead to touch Rohit Shetty's feet."

"Citizen Kane", released in 1941, was in the drama genre and it was based on the life of a newspaper publisher, essayed by Welles.

Comparing it with "Chennai Express" seems odd, doesn't it?

RGV explains: "Comparisons might seem odd because of genre difference, but as common man I felt the same high in excitement in 'Chennai Express' as in what I felt in 'Titanic' and 'Avatar'."

Varma's own filmography comprises films like "Rangeela", "Satya", "Mast", "Shool", "Sarkar", "Phoonk" and "Department".