Varma to chop some scenes from ‘Rakta Charitra’ after TDP protest

Following protests by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has agreed to delete some scenes allegedly projecting former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N.T. Rama Rao in poor light in his film “Rakta Charitra” which hit the screens Friday.

Varma, who is the director of the movie, and producer C. Kalyan said they would delete the objectionable scenes and dialogues.

Their assurance came after TDP activists took to the streets in parts of the state and stopped screening of the movie at a few theatres, alleging that Varma projected the party founder as a villain.

Stating that he is the biggest fan of the late former chief minister and popular actor NTR, Varma said those who had not even watched the movie were staging protests. “They should see the larger context in which the movie has been produced,” he said.

The TDP leaders alleged that Varma projected NTR as the one who encouraged factional violence by inducting Paritala Ravi into the party.

Protestors in Anantapur, Hindupur, Eluru, Visakhapatnam, Karimnagar and other towns gathered outside theatres, raised slogans against Varma and burnt his effigy. They demanded a ban on the movie.

The protestors attacked theatres in Visakhapatnam and Karimnagar towns and stopped the screening of the movie.

TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded that the scenes belittling NTR should be deleted and the filmmaker should apologise.

NTR’s second wife Lakshmi Parvathi too demanded that the controversial scenes be deleted.

Veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha played the role of NTR in the movie, which evoked tremendous response across the state on the first day.

Anantapur district remained tense but there were no reports of any violence. Police continued their vigil to prevent any untoward incident.

Family of Obul Reddy, one of the characters in the movie, has also taken exception to the manner in which he was projected.

Earlier, Varma cancelled his visit to Anantapur on the advice of the police. Varma was planning to watch the movie in a theatre in Anantapur.

The film, based on the factional war between two families in Anantapur, is the talk of the town as the followers of both the families waited to see if their leaders are projected right and as heroes or villains.

The trilingual film in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil revolves around the feud between gangster politicians Paritala Ravi and Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelachervu Suri. Besides Sinha, it stars Vivek Oberoi and Surya in key roles.

Ravi, a former minister and leader of the main opposition TDP in the state, was gunned down in 2005 allegedly by the followers of Congress leader Suri, who is currently in jail for the bomb blast in Hyderabad’s posh Jubilee Hills.

The movie triggered a row much before the release with peace activists and NGOs opposing it on the ground that it could lead to a fresh spell of violence. They accused Varma of making factional statements through the movie and appealed to the people to reject it.

Locals also raised objection to Varma using the name of the district in the film. The protests forced him to change the name to Anandapuram.

Paritala Ravi was allegedly gunned down in Anantapur town Jan 24, 2005, by Suri’s followers.

Suri had earlier made an attempt to kill Ravi in 1997 at the Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad. Though Ravi escaped unhurt, 25 people were killed and many injured in the bomb blast.

Anantapur district is part of the backward Rayalaseema region, is notorious for factional killings. Factions backed by political parties have been engaged in bloody battles for decades for supremacy in villages, especially in Anantapur district.

The factionists are notorious for the merciless manner in which they eliminate their rivals. More than 500 people have been killed in the violence over the past 15 years.

Rakta Charitra Review- Another Gory Facet of the Politics !

Rakta Charitra Review: Ram Gopal Verma’s much awaited film “Rakta Charitra” is based on a true story of Paritala Ravi.

Well known for his gritty and dark cinema, RGV’s upcoming flick is the most violent Hindi film ever made.
The story of the film has no rules, here the life of human beings is not worth a penny, here men are butchered, women are raped and abducted, here police obey orders of goons and guns, bombs, swords, sharp weapons and knives are a man’s best friend.
The film has just one song. There is no romance, no foreign locations, no humour or comedy, no family gatherings, no striking sets, and no good looking faces.
It is a complete law of the jungle. The essence of “Rakta Charitra” is revenge. This film will be admired by those who has a liking for brutality in cinema. The film deals with emotionally volatile people.
The background of the film is set in a rural environment. The story of the film revolves around Paritala Ravi played by Vivek Oberoi a soft spoken person, who had taken law in his hands to take revenge from his father (Rajendra Gupta) and his brother’s (Sushant Singh) murderer.
The manner in which the incidents unfold in the film keeps the audiences hooked. There is not much movement in the first half of the film.
In fact, there are more and more killings. The story of “Rakta Charitra” gains momentum when an iconic actor turned politician makes his entry and takes Paritala Ravi under his wings.
“Rakta Charitra” is targeted towards those audiences who love to watch violence, aggression, bloodshed, massacre and brutality on the silver screen. The film will also be released in Tamil and Telugu versions.

Is Siddharth ‘Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu’?

Siddharth, Shruthi Haasan’s new socio fantasy film under is heading towards completion. It is being directed by K Prakash Rao while Raghavendra Rao and Walt Disney Company are producing this film under A Belly Full of Dreams Entertainment Pvt. Ltd (ABODE) banner. The film-makers are planning to release the film in the early 2011.

The latest news is that a title ‘Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu’ has been registered in the Film Chamber of Commerce and the final confirmation is yet to be made.

The story is all about a kingdom ‘Angarajyam’ and its people and their approach. Sources say “A witch (Manchu Lakshmi) tries to sabotage the kingdom “Angarajyam” and in the process a nine year old (Baby Harshita) becomes important and the hero (Siddharth) puts all his efforts to save the child from the ill effects of the witch. Shruti Hassan plays the role of a gypsy girl who falls in love with hero.”

Mohan Babu’s daughter, Manchu Laxmi Prasanna will be seen in a negative role in the film and the other supporting cast of the film includes Baby Harshita, Dr Brahmanandam, Allari Ravi Babu, Ali, etc.

Gayam 2 – Movie Review

Director Praveen Sri reportedly narrated an action subject and it impressed Jagapathi Babu so much as it was prepared as a sequel to his career-best action film Gayam. With no second thought he agreed to do the flick.  Praveen Sri is a protégé of Ram Gopal Varma. Of course, the action scenes in this film remind us the old film Gayam and the story was perfectly mixed to make everyone believe that the story is a continuation of Gayam. However, what exactly the director wanted to convey to audiences was a big question mark which remain unanswered.

Ram (Jagapathi Babu) is a restaurant owner in Bangkok. Ram leads his life happily with his wife Vidya (Vimala Raman) and adopted son Chaitanya. One day, psychopath killers attempt to molest a female worker at Ram’s restaurant. To protect her, Ram shoots them. This rescue turns Ram a hero before the media.


Gurunarayana (Kota Srinivasa Rao) shocks to see Ram who is quite similar to Durga (Jagapathi Babu), an arch-rival, who was declared dead long ago. Gurunarayana’s son Shankar Narayana (Kota Prasad) leaves for Bangkok along with their lawyer saab (Tanikella Bharani) to find out whether he is Ram or Durga. Shankar Narayana kidnaps Chaitanya. This irks Ram and opens up his identity by injuring Shankar Narayana and killing a person just in front of Vidya.

Lawyer Saab takes away Shankar Narayana back to India. Vidya deserts Ram as he concealed his identity that he was once a killer and goon. But the Bangkok police officer of Indian origin (Jeeva) convinces her that Durga turned Ram and leading a normal and peaceful life only to keep himself off from bloodshed. Then Ram reveals his flashback to Vidya. At a time when it is going to be a happy reunion, again Gurunarayana’s men attack Ram and his family and Chaitanya gets badly injured.

In order to put a fullstop to the bloodshed, Ram decides to go to India as Durga and clear off the rivalry with Guru Narayana. He sends Vidya and Chaitu to the police officer’s house and returns to India. What happens next should be seen on-screen.

PERFORMANCE:
As Jagapathi Babu played the role earlier, he doesn’t need a mention about his performance. He has maintained the same tempo and intensity in this film too, despite the fact that the earlier version was released in 1993 (i.e., almost 18 years ago). The ageing factor however could not be hidden as Jagapathi Babu’s aged skin is clearly visible in close-up shots. Vimala Raman is okay in her role. She has shown her oomph, and was very romantic in one song with Jagapathi Babu. She is sensuous and seductive in that song. Kota Prasad has given show stealing performance. Kota Srinivasa Rao and Tanikella Bharani has given their best performance. Other artistes including Harshavardhan, Jeeva, Ravi Kale, have done their justice to their respective roles.

TECHNICAL Values:
Cinematography by Anil Bhandari is adequate, while editing by Praveen Pudi is impressive. Music by Illarayaraja needs a special mention. Though the background score is excellent, the tunes provided for the songs could have be done better if the maestro would have concentrated a little more. Action scenes by Ram-Lakshman are good to watch. Dialogues are good in parts, while screenplay by Rajendra Reddy is the soul of the film. Generally directors from Ram Gopal Varma school, will bring out either a super hit or super flop films. But, Praveen Sri has maintained good grip on the story and Rajendra Reddy supported him with perfect screenplay. However, the director should have used his brain, while bringing out a film. But in this case, it appeared that Praveen Sri straightly lifted a few scenes from a Hollywood film A History of Violence to complete the first half. And the second half is almost similar to Gayam.

ANALYSIS:
The director and producer should be complimented for portraying the present political situation on the screen perfectly and the audiences would definitely equate Kota’s character with KCR in several scenes. Though it is a coincidence, the film had many similarities to the present political turmoil in the state like Telangana stir and others. Though the action scenes in the film are okay, it is just not known what the director exactly wanted to tell the audiences with this film.

Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Vimala Raman, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Tanikella Bharani, Kota Prasad, Ajay, Jeeva, Harshavardhan, Ravi Kale, Tarjan, Raghunatha Reddy, Master Pavan Sriram and others

Credits: Cinematography – Anil Bhandari, Editing – Praveen Pudi, Dialogues – Gandham Nagaraju, Mallu Ravi Reddy, Screenplay – Rajendra Reddy, Art – Dharmendra, Music – Ilayaraja, Presents – Ram Gopal Varma, Producer - Dr Dharmakartha C, Story and direction – Praveen Sri.

Banner: Kartha Creations

Release Date: September, 03, 2010