After exploring varied genres like romance, thrillers, and comedy Anant Mahadevan now goes one notch higher with a film based on the Naxalite movement. The film titled Red Alert will be written and produced by Aruna Raje and Rahul Agarwal, respectively. Sunil Shetty plays the main protagonist along with veteran actor like Naseeruddin Shah, Sameera Reddy, Ayesha Dharkar, Aashish Vidyarthi, and Bhagyashree.
Throwing light on the concept and story of the film, Mahadevan says, “Red Alert is a 110 minutes long, song less film. It’s inspired from the true story of a man who inadvertently gets trapped in the movement at Gadchiroli, a place in Gujarat. Although my film will mainly revolve around the Naxals, it will also highlight the sufferers of other movements and social groups like the Russian Revolution and Jihad in Pakistan.”
Talking at length about why he chose Bhagyashree for one of the roles, he informs, “Bhagyashree plays Sunil Shetty’s wife in the film. I wanted a face that was distinct from the very rough and crude look of a Naxalite to play Sunil’s wife and Bhagyashree completely fits the bill. Their desire to satisfy the needs of their children ultimately turns their life upside down.”
On asking why he zeroed down on Sameera and not his favourite Udita, he says, “I was not looking out for a glamorous character. Sameera has worked with directors like Buddhadev Das Gupta and has been a part of offbeat Bengali films, which have gone to international festivals. Sameera has evolved tremendously as an actor and her looks were apt for the character of a Naxalite in the film.” Without divulging too many details on the character of Naseerudin Shah, he informs, “Naseer plays a very interesting character in the film. It’s something which I really don’t want to give out because I feel that would spoil the surprise of the film.”
Mahadevan informs that a thorough research has been done on the subject by him. “Lot of in-depth research about Naxalites has been carried right from their remuneration, costumes and lifestyle to communication”, he states.
Rahul Agarwal, the producer of the film delighted to be part of such a sensitive project says, “I feel content for the fact that this issue is very contemporary in its nature and will definitely drive people towards cinema halls.” And as far as the budget is concerned he informs, “The production house has not yet worked on that. So, it will take us some while to decide upon that.” Red Alert will go on the floors on June 5. Mahadevan is mainly targeting the film at the international festivals and will release the film in India later this year.
