NEW DELHI: The film ‘Red Alert’ dealing with the Naxalite and Maoist problem is to be released this week with 550 prints in the Hindi version.
The film has also been made simultaneously in English, Telugu and Chattisgarhi and a dubbed version in German.
Actor Suniel Shetty won the best actor award for the film directed by Ananth Mahadevan at the South Asia Film Festival in New York and was shown as part of Directors’ Vision at the international film festival in Stuttgart in Germany. It was given a red carpet at the International Film Festival of India at Goa last year.
Director Ananth Mahadevan told indiantelevision.com that he had been inspired to make the film when he saw a report in a newspaper and so it was based on a true story. It was a strange coincidence that the film should get released at a time when the Maoist menace was at its peak, he added, denying that it had been deliberately timed.
Referring to the script by Aruna Raje who is a director in her own right, he said it had definitely given the film a different and humane touch. He described the film as one of an individual caught in a dilemma.
In an interview, Shetty said he had learnt a lot from the making of the film and felt that if the governments came forward to do what the non-governmental organizations were doing, the menace would disappear. He said the so-called Naxalites or Maoists were like other people concerned about jobs and making ends meet and if these needs were fulfilled, the problems would get solved. But he said the communication gap remains because the rich are getting richer and the poor are being forgotten in the race.
Shetty, who said he himself belongs to a farmer family from Karnataka and therefore could emphatise with the central character Narasimha, said he was lucky to be at a stage where he could choose the kind of films he wanted to act in after having acted in over 125 films in 20 years.
He had tried his hand at production but did not feel satisfied though ‘Bhagam Bhag’ and ‘De Dhana Dan’ had done well. He, therefore, preferred to stick to acting. He also ruled out direction.
Producer Rahul Aggarwal said the subject had appealed to them as it was the need of the present time and the film had sought to present a solution to the Maoist and Naxalite problems.
