A horror movie revolving around the theme of Black magic with no songs nor any stars, Phoonk has managed to get a tremendous opening at the box office.

Director Ram Gopal Varma is in Seventh Heaven having proved all his detractors wrong and ending a year of dry runs except for an average performing Sarkar Raj.

Just when not many were willing to give this star-less, song-less horror film much chance at the box office, Phoonk has surprised (and shocked) quite a few with the terrific response it has gained from the paying public.

Says an elated Ram Gopal Varma,” First and foremost it has broken the fallacy that films with no stars and songs can’t work at the box office. So many in the industry are shocked because we have constantly lived under this impression that a film can be a success only if there are big stars, item songs and comedy ingredients.”

Asked if stars are no longer required to pull crowds, Ram Gopal Varma observed,” You may not have stars but then you should have a subject which is good enough for an audience to be enticed enough to walk into theaters, just like Phoonk did. It is the subject which warrants whether you need stars for them or not. I would have films with star power and also actors like Sudeep (lead actor in Phoonk) who fit into the character definition.”

Ram Gopal Varma has surprised a lot of people with the success of Phoonk and he quips,” While the all-India success of Phoonk is indeed heartening, what takes the cake is to see it turning out to be the biggest success of my career in a place like UP. I guess more than me, it is the audience, which has managed to surprise many out here in the industry!