Raktha Charithra-I ~ A Real "story"

Ram Gopal Varma, the man with the penchant for controversies comes out with a movie which is the fictional interpretation of facts. This movie depicts the story of people who can go to extremes for achieving what they think is good for them, no matter how bad is it for the others. The plot revolves around two families set against each other by another family. Since, this was supposed to be the story which has actually happened, it would not be reasonable to talk about justifications of the story and the plot.

RGV needs to be mentioned first before anyone else. The best was extracted out of all the performers. A true director who held his ship, marshaled his troupes and eventually got the victory. The story line was shrunk into a span of 2 years, which actually happened for a period of 2 decades. He claimed it as one of the most violent movies with lots of bloodshed and he lives up to the standards he set. His directorial brilliance was seen specially in the scene which shows, infact doesn't show, the "Pedda Sir". Pratap Ravi's introduction, Shivaji Rao's characterization, Bokka Reddy's barbarism needs a special mention. Since, the story could not be modified it was all on the director to visualize and recreate the scenes which actually have happened. RGV was instrumental in showcasing the mentalities of the characters. 

Technically, most of the shots were close up shots probably to capture the emotions. Killings were shown in a superb way, shots were edited so precisely such that the weapon was shown until it touches the body. BGM elevated the mood of the movie. All credits to RGV for making this happen. 


The flaws, infact not really, but the areas which I thought could have dealt with more precision were detailing how the plots were sketched out in the murders, the points which led to the misconceptions between the two parties should have been in more detail. As the movie was boasting of excessive bloodshed, execution was more concentrated. But, owing to the time line and attributing the story line to the real life these can be ignored. The biggest set back was the voice over given by RGV which was annoying at times and irritating most of the times. RGV always lets the audience to judge the scene but in this movie he was actually trying to explain the scene to the audience which I felt as quite unusual.

Vivek Oberai was terrific. He involved himself in the character of Pratap Ravi and delivered his best performance till date. Company showed him as a rookie and RC-I showed him as the best professional in business. Radhika Apte never looked like she doesn’t belong to a rural background. Shatrughan SInha brought the glamour, style and mannerisms which were needed for the role he played. Kota, Tanikella Bharani, and Shubhalekha Sudhakar are the only Telugu actors in the movie. All three proved that they were the best choices. Abhimanyu Singh, spilled venom from his eyes and actions. The best performance amongst all the others if the comparisions have to be drawn.

The icing on the cake was the climax of the movie. The climax starts with the trailer of RC-II making the audience think that the best is yet to come.


A must watch movie for the people who don’t know the story and for the people who know the story, to know how their imagination has been visualized.