‘Maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has shared a raw, deeply emotional tribute to Michael Jackson following a screening of the newly released biopic, Michael.
In a lengthy, unfiltered post on X (formerly Twitter), the director confessed that he “hated” the cinematic experience—not because of its quality, but because the striking performance by Jaafar Jackson violently dragged his memory back to June 25, 2009, the tragic day the global icon passed away.
Varma vividly recalled waking up to the television screen flashing the grim words, “Michael Jackson is Dead.” Reflecting on the initial denial that gripped him, the director stated he spent those first few minutes desperately hoping it was nothing more than a passing nightmare. However, as he channel-surfed only to find every news anchor speaking with the same solemn gravity, the agonizing reality that the “impossible had happened” finally sank in.
From a Dingy Vijayawada Video Parlour to a Cinematic Benchmark
The filmmaker went down memory lane, tracing the origins of his artistic obsession back to January 2, 1984, during his engineering college days in Vijayawada. It was there, inside a small, dingy video parlour, that a friend introduced him to the Thriller music video. Varma described the experience as an absolute “invasion” that permanently shattered his perception of music and imagery.
“The lights got switched off, and then THRILLER hit me like a punch in the gut. It was not just a song or a dance. It was an invasion. He didn’t move like a human being. He glided, he exploded, he floated, he commanded the screen like a supernatural entity… I walked out of that parlour in a complete daze. This cannot be a real person. He has to be GOD.”
Ram Gopal Varma on discovering the King of Pop
That foundational afternoon established a lifelong standard for the director. Varma revealed that throughout his extensive filmmaking career, almost every single song picturisation debate or creative brainstorming session with his production teams inevitably circled back to Michael Jackson’s iconic library—from Billie Jean and Beat It to Smooth Criminal and Bad.
Dismissing the Scandals: “He Backstabbed Me By Proving He Was Human”
Addressing the long list of controversies and legal trials that shadowed the pop star’s life, Varma dismissed them entirely as mere “background noise.” For the director, what Jackson provided to human senses and artistic souls carried a weight far heavier than any verdict a human court or tabloid publication could ever hand down. He maintained that Jackson was either a divine entity or a special cosmic creation, which is exactly why his demise felt like a personal betrayal.
The core of Varma’s emotional outburst lay in his resentment toward the star’s mortality. He explicitly noted that he “hates” Jackson for needing oxygen, for having blood in his veins, and for proving that his heart could stop beating just like any ordinary human being. Seeing headlines about Jackson’s body being sent to a mortuary felt like a backstab to the grand illusion he had guarded since his youth.
Concluding his tribute, Varma blended his frustration with profound admiration, stating that Jackson transformed a beautiful dream into a haunting nightmare but left behind a legacy that words cannot fully capture. He ended the note imagining the pop star moonwalking across galaxies and creating cosmic storms in another dimension, vowing to carry the creative daze he felt back in 1984 until his own final breath.