Vinod Khanna essays Naxalite-inspired role

Whatever Vinod Khanna might say, film-maker Ananth Mahadevan confirms that his character is ‘closely modeled’ along the lines of arrested Naxalite leader Kobad Ghandy in his forthcoming film.

“His (Khanna’s) character is based on Kobad Ghandy's role in the organisation (Naxals). He will be seen doing what Ghandy has been accused of (being the motivator for young Naxalites) by the government. In fact, all the characters in the film, including their names, are based on actual people and incidents. Even the dialogues have been culled out from actual media and government reports,” says Ananth.

Ananth adds, “There’s a Kobad Ghandy everywhere. You cannot ignore such characters. Without shrewd planning and propaganda, these organisations don’t exist and that is what both him (Vinod Khanna) and Kobad Ghandy are doing — one on reel-life and the other in real life.”

Ananth reveals that the climax of the film Red Alert is incidentally based on the Nallamala forests where late Andhra chief minister YSR Reddy’s copter crashed.

“It is a known hot-bed for Naxalite activities and when I envisioned the climax there, I never knew that this kind of an incident (Reddy’s death) would take place before the release of the film,” he adds.

Ananth, who has already been accused of being too sympathetic towards the Naxals, says he intends to have a screening for the home minister P Chidambaram.

“I can invite any member of the government if they want to see the film. In fact, I have not patronised violence anywhere. But at the same time we cannot ignore the fact that the Naxals enjoy tremendous local support and that is a reason why the government cannot get to them sometimes. They must have been doing some good to the local villagers to enjoy this unflinching support and co-operation. I am ready to show the government the sources from where I and Aruna Raje (the screenplay writer) have sourced our materials from,” he ends.