'A man could've played Ash's role'

Much has been said about Sarkar Raj being a package deal. After all it stars the entire Bachchan family—Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. However, as always, Ram Gopal Varma, the man behind Sarkar Raj, chooses to laugh away the insinuation.

"Believe me, Sarkar Raj would have been the same even if Aishwarya Rai’s character had been played by a man,” said Varma. “Not a single word of the basic plot of the film would have changed if I had taken a male protagonist instead."

In the film's prequel, Sarkar, Abhishek had turned out to be a surprise element. Though all eyes were (rightly) focused on Amitabh, who came up with one of his best performances in the last few years, Abhishek managed to stand on his own. So what’s the surprise element this time?

"Aishwarya Rai," said Varma. “As Anita Rajan, she enters the lives of Subhash [Big B] and Shankar Nagare [Abhishesk] and her character grows over a period of time. She is an element which connects audience with the Nagare family."

He added that though Ash plays a very strong character in the film, there is no scope for any romance.

"Don't even look for a romantic drama in Sarkar Raj since there isn't any scope for it. Just because a film stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai doesn't mean that they start romancing each other,” said the director. “And let's not forget that Abhishek's character is already married to Tanisha [Mukherjee] in the film."

Also starring Ravi Kale, Govind Namdeo, Victor Banerjee, Supriya Pathak, Sayaji Shinde, Dilip Prabhawalkar and Upyendra Limaye in principal roles, Sarkar Raj is confirmed for a June 6 release.