‘I Hate Michael Jackson’

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma says MJ’s death shattered the fantasy 

he carried since his college days Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma penned an emotional note on Michael Jackson after watching the biopic Michael, starring Jaafar Jackson. He recalled how the King of Pop shaped his imagination during his college days and said Jackson’s death shattered a fantasy he had carried for years. Varma added that he “hated” the film because it took him back to June 25, 2009 — the day news of Michael Jackson’s death broke.

Taking to his X (formerly Twitter), RGV wrote, “I HATE MICHAEL. After watching MICHAEL film, my memory went back to that horrible day, June 25, 2009, when I slept late with the television still murmuring like a ghost in the darkness of my room. As I groggily woke up in the morning, my eyes went to the screen to see those terrible white letters against black: ‘Michael Jackson is Dead.’”

He recalled switching channels only to find every anchor speaking with the same solemn gravity, and that was when he realised the impossible had happened.

Recalls watching Thriller in a small video parlour

Ram Gopal Varma further shared how he first watched Thriller in a small video parlour in Vijayawada during his engineering college days. Calling the experience “an invasion”, he said Michael Jackson changed the way he looked at music and visuals, showing him things he had never imagined possible. He added that he walked out of the parlour in a complete daze, with his heart racing and mind reeling, thinking, “This cannot be a real person. He has to be God, or at least a fantasy sculpted by the gods to bless mortals on Earth.”

On MJ’s scandals

The filmmaker further said that every song picturisation discussion he had throughout his career, whether with his team or other directors, eventually circled back to Michael Jackson’s videos.  Ram Gopal Varma shared that Michael’s scandals and controversies never bothered him, calling them “background noise”. He said what MJ gave to his senses and soul far outweighed anything a human court or tabloid magazine could throw at him. Varma added that, to him, Jackson was either God or God’s special creation, and that was exactly why he hated him.

Michael Jackson betrayed my fantasy, says RGV

“I hate Michael Jackson for dying. I hate him for proving that even he was human. I hate that he too needed oxygen and blood like the rest of us. I hate that his heart could stop beating too. I hate that I lived long enough to see those words on CNN: ‘Michael Jackson’s body sent to mortuary.’ He backstabbed me. He betrayed my fantasy,” wrote Varma. Getting emotional, Ram Gopal Varma concluded by saying that he hates that Michael Jackson left heaven and became mortal. He added, “I hate Michael for turning my dream into a nightmare. And I love him more than I can express in words.”