Raktha Charitra....Rating: 3.25/5

Ace director Ram Gopal Varma has finally put a full stop to all speculations about the film Rakta Charitra (Rattha Charithram in Tamil). The Telugu version, which bagged ‘A’ certificate. Starring Vivek Oberoi, Suriya and Priyamani in the lead roles, Rakta Charitra depicts the life of the slain political leader Paritala Ravindra. Vivek Oberoi plays the role of Paritala Ravi, while Suriya plays Maddelacheruvu Suri, his rival. Priyamani plays Suriya’s wife. Shatrughan Sinha plays late AP Chief Minister NTR. The film is made simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Lets see what is RGV's Raktha Charitra ?

Cast : Suriya as Suri (Suryanarayan Reddy) Nemesis of Paritala Ravi, Vivek Oberoi as Paritala Ravi, Gangster Politician, Priyamani as Gangula Bhanumati, Sushant Singh, Zarina Wahab, Aashish Vidyarthi, Ashwini Kalsekar, Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh, Shatrughan Sinha as N T Rama rao, Sushmita Mukherjee
Dialogues: Nageswara Rao
Music: Dharam- Sandeep
DOP: Amol Rathod
Music: Mani Sharma,
Cinematography : Amol Rathod,
Editing: Bhanodaya, Nipun Ashok Gupta
Story, screenplay, direction: Ram Gopal Varma
Producers: Madhu Mantena, Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Chinna Vasudeva Reddy, Rajkumar

Story:
Movie starts in Anandapuram where in local leader Narasimha Reddy (Kitty) has a strong follower in Veerabhadraiah (Rajendra Gupta), the man from lower caste/downtrodden community. During the Zilla Parishad elections in state, Veerabhadraiah starts to emerge as a strong and real leader in his local community in Anandapuram which isn’t liked by Nagamani Reddy (Kota Srinivas Rao), the close associate to Narasimha Reddy.

In order not to see Veerabhadraiah in equal political status; Narasimha Reddy and Nagamani Reddy brutally murder Veerabhadraiah with the help of his close follower Manda (Ashish Vidyarthi). Unable to bear the death of his father, Veerabhadraiah’s elder son Shankar (Sushanth) forms a Guerrilla troop to kill Narasimha Reddy and Nagamani Reddy and there by preserve the noble ideals of his father.

Veerabhadraiah’s younger son Prathap (Vivek Oberoi) studying in the city is in love with Nandini (Radhika Apte) and he is away from these local politics. On other side, Bukka Reddy (Abhimanyu Sekhar Singh), the only son of Nagamani Reddy is the big villain in Anandapuram who just enjoys raping the girls and cleaning his opponents with bloodshed. 

Situations turn such a way that, with the murders of Narasimha Reddy and Shankar; Prathap lands himself into this revenge taking process. Prathap succeeds in killing Manda and Nagamani Reddy but misses Bukka Reddy every time. 

This is exactly the time when Number One Hero in Andhra Pradesh Shivaji Rao (Shatrugan Sinha) starts his own political party (Praja Desham Party) and invites Prathap to join him. Then what, Prathap becomes the MLA of Anandapuram while Shivaji Rao becomes the Chief Minister of State winning the elections. From here on Prathap becomes the brave leader in State who works at changing the Political System, sketches a plot and clears of Bukka Reddy also. Time when, entire Andhra Pradesh starts looking at Prathap as the Hero, he faces a big hurdle yet again. Who is he (Suriya)? Let us wait for ‘Raktha Charitra – Part 2’ releasing on November 19.

Performances:
Vivek oberai :Vivek as Prathap has given a settled performance which turns violent depending upon the situations. He was right choice to the role

Kota Srinivas Rao :Kota Srinivasa Rao fits right into the character of a villainous politician, even though he played such roles a zillion times.

Shatrughan Sinha: Shatrughan Sinha does the role of ‘over the top’ and self appraising actor-turned-political leader extremely well

Abhimanyu Singh :Abhimanyu has breathed the character of Bukka Reddy as his dreadful eyes, daring body language, perfect physique and his cruel acts on the screen will develop hatred for audience against this character. 

Others :Zarina Wahab, Tanikella Bharani, Radhika Apte, Sushanth, Ashish Vidyarthi and many more Hindi actors done well with their roles.

Drawbacks:
Ramgopal Varma's voice over: His voice is as good and as loud as Nutan Prasad’s narrative for a famous crime based TV serial.
While the film’s tone is more like a documentary
In order to elevate Paritala Ravi as hero of this part, Varma has put the entire blame on the character of Bukka Reddy(Obul reddy)

Analysis:
Ramgopal Varma has not only drawn inspiration from the characters and life of Paritala Ravi but he executed it on the screen in his own style. Story of the movie is clearly a high voltage revenge action with its major causes imbibed in Self Respect, Equal (Political) Rights for oppressed communities. Screenplay and direction wise, Varma is at his beat as there are many instances where in audience start to shiver, where it lacks is the emotional depths in characters. Dialogues by Nageshwar Rao aren’t really enough for this kind of story. Background Score by Dharam - Sandeep raised the intensity in each scene. Cinematography by Amol Rathod and Editing by Bhanodaya were also good. 

Verdict: Better keep children away and watch it with your own risk

Rating: 3.25/5