Ramu (right in image) claimed that the film, starring his favourite actor Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari, would go on the floors next month, and would be a winner, and unlike what it turned out to be.
While Ramu and Rohit have parted ways after the controversy started, Rohit tries to offer an explanation. "Let me start from the beginning. RGV wanted me to do a remake of his film, Shiva -- to be called Shiv -- after I finished with James. I was initially excited. But when James flopped, I wanted to take a break, sit back and analyse what went wrong. RGV and I had a talk and agreed that we would put Shiv on hold. And I did not want to do a film on the same action genre again. I refuse to work like a clone like everybody else at the Factory! Now I hear that he wants to remake James."
Rohit claims that Ramu's film will, in fact, be a remake of Shiva that they had planned to do, and not James.
"After James released, I had to go to my hometown, Dehradun. I told RGV that I would be back with a new story idea. But when I came back, I heard of this announcement," he adds.
Rohit feels cheated because RGV did not talk to him before making the announcement.
Then he bursts out, "How can he say James was not made properly after raving about it before it released? How can his convictions about the film change once the verdict is against it?"
"Apparently, Ram Gopal Varma told a Mumbai newspaper that I did a bad job of James. It was supposed to be Shiva, but I made something else out of it. So I asked him: Is it possible that James was under production for two years and he never knew what was happening? He approves of each and every single line in the script. What he doesn't like, he cuts. But the way he talks it sounds as though he did not see anything of the film, and suddenly just saw the final product!" exclaims Rohit.
The young director claims that RGV 'interferes' in a film from the scripting stage to the editing table, though he never comes to the sets of his films.
"I don't know his reasons of remaking the film. I don't think he is doing it for Mohit's sake. Yes, Mohit is a nice human being, and has a very good screen presence. RGV has kept him in his next ventures because he sees potential in Mohit," he says.
Rohit is candid when it comes to analysing what actually went wrong with James. "It's no secret that the second half never had a story. We had open discussions about it. Everything was made the way he wanted it -- he inserted the song sequences, the dog chase scene all his orders have been followed."
Before signing off, Rohit added, "I have the guts to say Ram Gopal Varma and Rohit Jugraj did a bad job of James. That's it. Why should you come back and say I am going to remake James? But if he wants to, he should make a remake of James, with the same story and cast. He can't remake Shiva, and call it a James remake."