Ace filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma recently shared an emotional note about Michael Jackson after watching the much discussed biopic Michael. The director opened up about how deeply the King of Pop influenced his imagination, creativity, and understanding of visual storytelling over the years.
RGV recalled the shocking moment when he first learned about Michael Jackson’s death on June 25th, 2009. He said the news felt impossible to believe and described how he kept changing television channels hoping it was untrue. Sharing his emotions, he wrote, “I HATE MICHAEL After watching MICHAEL film , my memory went back to that horrible day June 25 th , 2009 when I slept late with the television still murmuring like a ghost in the darkness of my room , and as I groggily woke up in the morning and my eyes went to the screen to see those terrible white letters against black: “Michael Jackson is Dead.””
The filmmaker also went back to his college days in Vijayawada and remembered the first time he watched Thriller in a small video parlour on January 2nd 1984. According to him, the experience completely changed the way he looked at music and performance. He described Michael Jackson as someone beyond ordinary human ability and said his songs and videos felt larger than life.
Talking about the impact of Jackson’s work, RGV mentioned songs like “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Black or White,” “Remember the Time,” and “Bad.” He explained that Michael Jackson’s music videos became a major source of inspiration during discussions about song picturisation throughout his filmmaking career.
I HATE MICHAEL
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 22, 2026
After watching MICHAEL film , my memory went back to that horrible day June 25 th , 2009 when I slept late with the television still murmuring like a ghost in the darkness of my room , and as I groggily woke up in the morning and my eyes went to the screen to see…
He further wrote, “The scandals? The controversies? They never bothered me. They were background noise. What he gave my senses and my soul far outweighed anything a human court or a tabloid magazine could ever throw at him.”
Ending the note on an emotional note, Ram Gopal Varma said he still carries the unforgettable feeling Michael Jackson gave him years ago in that Vijayawada video parlour and believes the global icon’s brilliance can never truly fade.