The drama doesn’t end with the final print when it comes to Ram Gopal Varma’s Rakhta Charitra. The film has garnered mixed reviews from all corners since its release on Friday last week, although majority of them are positive. But while the pre-release drama had the producers changing all the posters to erase all notation of the Mahabharata, since its release another headache has arisen.
Protests by members of the Andhra Pradesh political party called Telugu Desam Party[TDP], have now cornered the Rann director and his producer C. Kalyan to delete scenes from the film which include Shatrughan Sinha in them. Why you may ask? This is due to the character he plays in the trilingual film. As the story is inspired by true events, the character Shatrughan Sinha played in the film, Shivaji Rao, a famous actor turned politician, is based on the late Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao[NTR] who was also a former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and founder of the party. The Hindustan Times reports that the objection they are raising is that the character Shatrughan Sinha plays is portrayed in poor light and with it, a demand for scenes and dialogues to be deleted within only a day of the film release.
What does RGV have to say about all this? Well, as mentioned, he and Kalyan have agreed to delete the questionable scenes but not without putting in his two cents. “They should see the larger context in which the movie has been produced,” he says, as he feels those who have protested haven’t actually seen the film. But it’s not just the TDP members that are showing their discontent by burning effigies and stopping screenings. Reports have also shown that TDP cheif member Chandrababu Naidu has also asked for an apology from the filmmaker. While RGV respects their concerns, he has also made it clear he is a fan of the late actor-politician.
