Hyderabad:
You could be forgiven for assuming that Ramgopal Varma is trying his damndest to make watching his new film a somewhat grueling exercise.
The movie-
Rakht Charitra- is being released in two installments three weeks apart. And then, there's this comment from the director. "There are no songs, no comedy, no family functions, there are no great clothes, there are no good locations, no exotic sets. All elements which conventional, commercial, formula film has, it is not there. After that if you want to see it, it's your call.''
Not exactly the sort of marketing campaign that producers dream of. But Varma wants you to really get it. The Realism, that is. With a capital R.
Rakht Charitra, to be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu is about the real-life story of Paritala Ravi, a gangster-politician in Andhra Pradesh who was killed by his opponents in 2005.
Viveik Oberoi plays the Chief Minister, loosely based on NT Rama Rao who is pitted against Suri, played by Tamil actor Suriya. Politician-actor Shatrughan Sinha's role is inspired by the then Andhra Chief Minister.
Oberoi says it was the role's smaller details that he found challenging. " The most difficult part was growing and maintaining a moustache for one year ," he added.
Audience members may find their own moustaches growing considerably during the film. The two installments run longer than five hours.