October 23, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Movie: Rakta Charitra

Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Shatrughan Sinha, Sushant Singh, Ambhimanyu Skekhar Singh

Director: Ram Gopal Verma

Genre: Action, Drama

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Ram Gopal Verma seldom makes films for the faint hearted people and Rakta Charitra proves to be so and this one superseded all his previous works where goriness is concerned. The film once again happens to be a subject which is close to Vermas heart, the underbelly and the darker side of the world of politics.

The story is about a politician named Paritala Ravi hailing from Andhra Pradesh, who without any flinching starts murdering people as he passes out from the college and becomes a politician. The film focuses on Ravi's life and his journey which is full of mass murder, rape and abduction of women and the revenge saga goes on.

Following the typical Ram Gopal Verma style, there are face shots and shots taken from some angles which adds eeriness and at times, become awkward too. In spite of the free flowing of the blood, the characters for some unknown reason keeps on using the word rakta.

Though the subject matter is a strong one and portrayal of the goriness of the political world could have been done with finesse, Verma lacks the subtlety and the loud sound-track takes away the emotional and psychological tone of the film.

There are some powerful performances by the lead cast, but once again, the characters are not very well etched out. One can just say that Vermas fascination for the goriness has taken over the brutality he could have shown about the rural political world and made it a voyeuristic film that can be enjoyed by those who loves bloodshed in ample amount.

--Sampurn Wire