RGV with Akella Raghavendra (Part 2)
Ramuism
In this episode, Akella Raghavendra and RGV engage in a deep philosophical dialogue regarding the tension between destiny and individual age
Key takeaways
- Raghavendra describes how he abandoned a lucrative job opportunity in Nigeria to pursue a local video library business in Amirpet.
- The discussion highlights how Nietzsche's philosophical writings were later used by Hitler to justify political violence.
Main topics
- Destiny vs. Personal Decision
- The impact of Nietzsche on 20th-century politics
Notable quotes
Anything which is not in your control, you should not waste your time.
Conclusion
The episode serves as a meditative exploration of how humans navigate
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:00) . Speaker 1 (0:37) Yeah, Speaker 2 (0:41) correct. Speaker 2 (0:47) I Speaker 1 (0:47) don't understand your Speaker 2 (0:47) point. I don't understand. Servant maid... Without intelligence. Correct. I understood. Because of Speaker 1 (0:54) place. There is no intelligence here. Speaker 2 (0:58) There Speaker 1 (0:59) is no Speaker 2 (0:59) connection with Speaker 1 (0:59) PR. There is no connection with application. Correct. By the very Speaker 2 (1:04) virtue of the placement. Situation. Speaker 1 (1:14) How many temples are there Speaker 2 (1:15) in Speaker 1 (1:15) the Speaker 2 (1:15) world? Speaker 1 (1:16) It is said that we are born in a place called as the birth place of a queen. It means that an ordinary drop of water If you put it on a burnt stone, it will get burnt. If you put it under water, it will get burnt. Yes. Speaker 2 (1:36) This Speaker 1 (1:36) is what people call our luck. That is our... Yeah. Speaker 2 (1:43) There are two points here. Luck and destiny. Speaker 2 (1:54) These two aspects are perfectly correct. But why is Speaker 1 (1:59) it Speaker 2 (1:59) not valid? Anything which is not in your control, you should not waste your time. Speaker 1 (2:04) You Speaker 2 (2:05) cannot change it. Speaker 1 (2:06) Now, Speaker 2 (2:07) before I started the video library, Speaker 1 (2:13) I Speaker 2 (2:14) went to some people, like Ramuji Rao, Suresh Babu, and tried to avoid breaks. Speaker 2 (2:23) They gave me a job in Nigeria. For that job, I had to get an international driving license. Speaker 1 (2:37) For Speaker 2 (2:38) that, I took my friend on a scooter. He was in a video library on Speaker 1 (2:49) the way. His Speaker 2 (2:51) friend's video library. It was new to me. I Speaker 1 (2:54) was Speaker 2 (2:54) talking to them and suddenly I got an idea. I Speaker 1 (2:58) thought of putting a Speaker 2 (2:58) video. Speaker 1 (3:00) I Speaker 2 (3:01) don't have money. I was going to Nigeria in three days. Speaker 2 (3:08) Overnight, that desire came so much and I cancelled my Nigerian trip. I took 2,000-4,000 rupees from him and my father and uncle gave me a shop. My father was thinking of buying a juice shop after he retired. I gathered the money and asked my father to give me just 4 months. Speaker 2 (3:40) From there, cutting a long story short, everyone in the video library said not to put it. Amirpet will not be able to walk, there will be no VCR, etc. I put it. It turned out to be super. Speaker 1 (3:53) So Speaker 2 (3:53) when I was getting Speaker 1 (3:54) a Speaker 2 (3:54) salary of 800 rupees, when I got an offer of 5000 rupees in Nigeria, when I went there, without having any money in my pocket, if I put this, I would get 2000 rupees a day in those days. Speaker 2 (4:09) Sir, monthly. 20,000 per month. 8,000, 5,000, 20,000. I don't have Speaker 1 (4:17) any Speaker 2 (4:17) experience in the film industry. Speaker 2 (4:22) I went to Sardin Studios, Suryendra, X, Y, Balakrishna, N.T. Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna, etc. Slowly I went Speaker 1 (4:31) to Speaker 2 (4:31) the industry. I started again from there and went to Nagarjuna, Shiva's story etc. Now I can't stop it from the video library. That is destiny. Speaker 1 (4:43) That is Speaker 2 (4:44) destiny. That is not at all in the script. Speaker 1 (4:47) Now Speaker 2 (4:48) one day... Speaker 1 (4:49) If Speaker 2 (4:49) he didn't Speaker 1 (4:49) stop at the Speaker 2 (4:49) library, I wouldn't have been a director. Speaker 1 (4:53) I Speaker 2 (4:53) would have been a nice LPL. But Speaker 1 (4:54) you didn't have a direction number then. I Speaker 2 (4:56) had, but I didn't get it. I didn't Speaker 1 (4:58) get Speaker 2 (4:58) access. You Speaker 1 (4:59) said you had enough of reporting. Yeah, Speaker 2 (5:01) I said Speaker 1 (5:01) I Speaker 2 (5:01) wouldn't do this Speaker 1 (5:01) anymore. Speaker 2 (5:02) Now, if you Speaker 1 (5:03) are with Speaker 2 (5:03) Ramuji, you should first become an assistant director. I said, why should I become an assistant director? I don't need it. That's my context. If I become an assistant director, I will give this to the assistant director. Speaker 1 (5:17) It Speaker 2 (5:17) is not possible. I don't know which movie I'll get to see. This and that. Then Suresh. So I thought of going to Nigeria and earn money and make a film with Speaker 1 (5:28) that. I Speaker 2 (5:30) don't Speaker 1 (5:30) know Speaker 2 (5:30) the practical effect there. Speaker 1 (5:33) If Speaker 2 (5:33) I didn't get Speaker 1 (5:34) to see the Speaker 2 (5:34) video library that day, I would have been 100 % there. Because I would have stayed there for a while. Speaker 2 (5:47) But if you are used to it, how will you come back? What will Speaker 1 (5:54) be the Speaker 2 (5:54) basis? So, what is it now? There are many challenges in my life. Speaker 1 (6:00) Destiny Speaker 2 (6:01) is the most important thing, but we don't have control over it. Speaker 2 (6:06) Same thing in reverse, nothing happens. There are moments when life is finished. Speaker 1 (6:13) But Speaker 2 (6:14) something happens again. Completely unexpected. If nothing happens in my knowledge, then out of the blue, that's destiny. Speaker 2 (6:26) But the only difference is that if we continue to do what we do, destiny will give us Speaker 1 (6:33) both Speaker 2 (6:33) bad and good things. But you have to make the next decision. If I take a decision on my life, I have to make the next decision. If that doesn't happen, we have no control. Which is the reason I think a discard. Speaker 1 (6:49) I will apply the same Speaker 2 (6:50) logic to God. God is a person of 6 billion. God has given us millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions of millions If someone says, Ramgopal Varma, Akhil Daile, take care of me, will he see you as special? That's ego. That's human ego. The ego Speaker 1 (7:12) comes from believing Speaker 2 (7:12) in Speaker 1 (7:13) God. Why Speaker 2 (7:15) ego? Even if you think you are special, why would God think so? Speaker 1 (7:19) If Speaker 2 (7:20) I Speaker 1 (7:20) give more awards to Speaker 2 (7:20) Akhil, if I give more money to Kabargaon, what is the measurement? Another thing. In society, what you get is, If it goes away, it will come back to you. It will not be created new. If you get money from this, it will come from another hand, right? Then, if God has given money to those people and made them good, it is like someone else has done that. But we don't care. As long as we are okay with it. If everyone has the same money, there is no value for Speaker 1 (7:52) money. Speaker 2 (7:55) So, another thing I want to say is that, circumstances. You know, servant-maid is servant-maid. You can come to a house with money or you can come here. Same thing happens everywhere. When you are born, the family you are born into is the same. What kind of father you have, what kind of mother you have, what kind of friends you have, everything is destiny. That is not in your account. Speaker 2 (8:24) What Speaker 1 (8:25) you did from that Speaker 2 (8:25) is one point. Another thing is, Norway, Christchurch, Austria, and New Zealand. Both are beautiful places. The biggest serial killings took place there. In Norway and Christchurch. We don't know why such a place and such a person bought it. What is this terrible slum, or this terrible Somalia, or Nigeria? Why is it Speaker 1 (8:55) called a crisis? Speaker 2 (8:56) Serial killing? Spree killing? What I mean is, he was born there. He was born in a very poor place, or in a slum, that's the point, right? That's Speaker 1 (9:09) the Speaker 2 (9:09) mind. That's the story. Then, Dawood Ibrahim, you think about it. Speaker 2 (9:15) There are 2 crores of people in Bombay. 2 crores of people and 1 person. 2 crores is not a thousand rupees. Speaker 2 (9:23) An extraordinary criminal mind in Bombay. The same Dawood Ibrahim, the same family. His father is a constable, his mother is a housewife. He has 6-7 brothers and sisters in his family. If he was born in Bewaram, would he be a Don Ivo or not? That's my point. Speaker 1 (9:41) Impossible. But I didn't say it. I didn't say it because... Speaker 2 (9:46) If he doesn't like Bewaram, he can go to Bombay. That's his job. Poonchandra Rao is a famous producer. He ran away from home with 2 rupees. He ran away and came to Vijayawada. He lived in a theater in Vijayawada. Speaker 1 (10:17) From Speaker 2 (10:20) there, he was in a projection booth. Speaker 2 (10:24) I don't know what that promotion is. Then the collectors would come to see the theatre collections. From the distribution office. He would go to the distribution office. From Speaker 1 (10:43) Chennai to the distribution Speaker 2 (10:43) office, the producer would come. He would go to the producer and go Speaker 1 (10:48) to Speaker 2 (10:48) the production office. Then he would be the production manager. The manager said that one day, he saw a movie called Death Rides a Horse. Speaker 1 (10:59) He Speaker 2 (11:00) thought it would be good if it was made in Telugu. He asked the two actors he knew, who are watching it on Speaker 1 (11:09) horses? Speaker 2 (11:09) He Speaker 1 (11:10) said that Speaker 2 (11:10) it was Speaker 1 (11:10) this Speaker 2 (11:10) and that. A dancer he knew, caught a producer and made Speaker 1 (11:16) a movie called Speaker 2 (11:16) Rowdy Rani. Speaker 2 (11:18) That was Speaker 1 (11:19) a Speaker 2 (11:19) blockbuster and it broke records at that time. Then he wrote another film called Papam Pasupada. That was a super duper hit. Now, he became a big producer and at a particular time, he said he wanted to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan. Chiranjeevi's film Chattani ke Kalli, that was a film by Amitabh Bachchan. Speaker 1 (11:45) In Speaker 2 (11:46) those days, he made a film with 12 lakhs. Speaker 2 (11:51) The film was shot for 40 days. He said he needed 12 days. Speaker 1 (12:00) He Speaker 2 (12:02) said he would give 2 lakhs per day. Speaker 1 (12:05) He Speaker 2 (12:06) made a movie for 12 days and for 24 lakhs. I said okay. Bachchan sir told me this. Speaker 2 (12:20) After the shooting, I used to get a newspaper packet every day for the pack-up time. Speaker 1 (12:26) If Speaker 2 (12:27) I gave everything, it wouldn't be the same. Speaker 1 (12:29) If Speaker 2 (12:29) I Speaker 1 (12:29) gave Speaker 2 (12:29) everything and if I came to that house every Speaker 1 (12:32) day and Speaker 2 (12:32) paid Speaker 1 (12:32) 2 Speaker 2 (12:32) lakhs for the newspaper, I would remember Amitabh Bachchan as the person who gave me the payment. Speaker 1 (12:39) He Speaker 2 (12:40) became the closest person to Amitabh Bachchan. At a particular time, Prakash Mehra... He is close to Amitabh Bachchan. Where did he