Rakta Charitra: True story?

Rakta Charitra: True story?

Ever since director RGV announced that his forthcoming bilingual Rakta Charitra, starring Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi in the lead, would be about rebel-turned politician Paritala Ravi, one of the most feared individuals in the blood-ridden faction politics of South India, many have been left wondering whether it is actually based on the True story?

Ever since director Ram Gopal Varma announced that his forthcoming bilingual Rakta Charitra, starring Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi in the lead, would be about rebel-turned politician Paritala Ravi (one of the most feared individuals in the blood-ridden faction politics of South India), many have been left wondering whether it is actually based on true incidents or is a mixture of fiction and facts as in Company, supposedly based on underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan. So what does RGV say?

"People ask me whether Rakta Charitra is a true story. I tell them it is a true story in my perception. The reason I say this is that the events which happened in such secrecy when told by the various concerned and related people after such a long time are bound to have different perspectives, not to mention their individual agendas. So for me as a neutral guy, I have to read and understand between the lines to decide what could be the nearest truth from my perception. So in the process of getting closest to the truth, I became a journalist, a detective and a psycho-analyst.” Ram Gopal Varma reveals through his blog.

He further adds, "Rakta Charitra for me is not only a career defining film; it is going to be a life changer for me as I know that I can never be the same again in my life with the kind of insights I have developed into the hitherto unknown recesses of such extreme human beings who were shaped thus by even more extreme events. I have never known as much drama ever as there is in Rakta Charitra from all my previous knowledge of books, movies, people, etc. and this additional growth in me is going to surely erase my history of filmmaking."

Vivek is sorry no more!

Vivek Oberoi on love, life and a fresh innings in Bollywood.

You have got some good reviews for your role in Kurbaan.

Yes. I have not stopped smiling since the film's release. At one of the trials, Bebo (Kareena Kapoor) and Saif (Ali Khan) did tell me that I was good in the film. Then Karan (Johar) and Rensil (D'Silva)also told me the same thing. I had not seen the film till then as I was shooting in Hyderabad. It was a nice feeling when Karan told me 'finally you make me proud.' I saw the film just a day before its release and I had knots in my stomach. I was very nervous but I was with people who have always been kind to me. There were Shah Rukh and Gauri, Imran and his fiancée Avantika, Yash uncle, Davidji (Dhawan). They all hugged me and said I was good.

• Why have you not done a romantic film after Saathiya?

Honestly, I really don't know. Kurbaan has got a romantic track but Mission Istanbul and Shootout At Lokhandwala had zero romance. I have not done an out-and-out romantic film and I am really looking forward to doing one.

• People are saying that you have changed and that you want to leave the controversies behind and concentrate only on your work.

I wanted this for a really long time. However, after Shootout ... things did not fall in place. Almost four years ago, when I did Omkara, I saw Saif getting under the skin of the character Langda Tyagi. I loved the work ethics. That's when I thought that I should stop doing what I was doing, but I had a backlog to finish. Then my close friend Amit Chandra sat me down and helped me streamline my life so that I could practically achieve what I was trying to. Now, I have learnt not to take anything for granted.

• How did Ramu and you patch up?

I don't think patch up is the right word as we were never at loggerheads. I will never have the audacity to say anything against Ramu and as an artiste, I will always be indebted to him for giving me Company. But when he called me and told me 'I will never work with you again', I was shocked. Now, when he called me and said that he had something for me, I was so happy. When I met him, he said that he could see the same passion in my eyes again and gave me Rakta Charitra. I felt exactly the same on the first day of Rakta Charitra that I felt on the first day on the sets of Company. Ramu made me feel so comfortable.

• You have done some amazing stunts in Prince, something which you are not known for.

Yes. Kookie Gulati is quite a whiz kid. I did so many things that I cannot possibly explain — right from learning how to skateboard, doing parkour, learning cable work, to action training. I had to put so many things into my system that after the training session, things became easier.

• You have said that you are done with apologising to people.

I made a mistake and it is human to make mistakes. Personally, I think it's humbling and it's also building character to stand up and say I made a mistake and please forgive me. It is always an ego-based thing to say that why should I apologise. It is a real man who can say 'I am sorry' and that too in public. I have said sorry to the assistant director whom I was rude to, I have said sorry to the movie star whom I had a fight with and I even said sorry to the director I snapped at.

• I have not done an out-and-out romantic film and I am really looking forward to doing one