I knew 'Shiva' would get bad reviews: Ram Gopal Varma

Mumbai -- Director Ram Gopal Varma is not surprised that audiences in Mumbai have found his "Shiva", a remake of his directorial debut of the same name, to be excessively clich

"I always knew it was going to get extremely bad reviews. I knew critics would see it as a routine hero-villain film. I'm not really surprised by the severe backlash," Varma told IANS.

"I don't consciously think of which section of the audience would like what I'm doing. Besides, all cop films are violent. My next two films 'Darling' and 'Nishabd' aren't violent."

He accepts that "Shiva" is inspired from Govind Nihalani's "Ardh Satya".

"Definitely. When I made my first 'Shiva' many years ago I changed the police backdrop in 'Ardh Satya' to a college campus. Now I've taken 'Shiva' back to the police force. This is more a remake of 'Ardh Satya'."

Excerpts:

Q: Audiences in Mumbai have found "Shiva" to be excessively clich