All blood, all gore

MOVIE REVIEW: RAKTA CHARITRA
Word of caution: If nausea grips you at the sight of a beheaded and blood bathed chicken, Rakta Charitra is not your cup of tea.
Ram Gopal Verma has always excelled in highlighting the nitty-gritty of the underworld, be it Satya or Company. However, Rakta Charitra falls short of attaining the realism of the aforementioned master pieces by Verma by miles.
His current fascination for red is bound to get to the audience’s nerves inadvertently, courtesy Rakta Charitra. Here, revenge is personified by lacerated and moaning victims, the victor standing by, holding the weapon, eyes gleaming with a pervert desire to kill more.
As with every Ram Gopal Verma movie, the antagonist to the law is the protagonist. Bubka Reddy, portrayed by Abhimanyu Singh, who had earlier shone in Gulal, can be safely concluded as the best choice of character. Portraying a character who is a scrooge in spending words (other than his romps with damsels where he vows to avenge his father’s assassination), alcoholic, sexholic, beastly, vicious, and all other adjectives worth attributing to a man personifying a beast’s incarnation, Abhimanyu excels.
Vivek Oberoi is pale in comparison. Beyond doubt, Oberoi has mastered the art of portraying grey characters, at times black even. However, the wronged character of Ravi Pratap, bereaved by the loss of his family, set out to avenge the loss, is overshadowed by the maniacal Bubka’s might. Oberoi tries his best in spite of looking queer in a double barrel moustache, but failed to rise above the mediocrity of the script.
A major drawback of the movie is that several characters are nipped off in the bud as soon as they start to bloom, be it the fugitive leader of Naxals played by Sushant Singh or the seemingly fearless police officer played by Ashwini Kalsekar, both perishing before Bubka. Similar treatment was meted to Bubka, as he dies a chicken’s death. Such irreverent treatment after raising him to the pedestal of a fear invoking lead character might be considered unjust by many viewers.
Technically, Verma has always been almost impeccable, however sad the script might be. Rakta Charitra is no exception. If you do not object to the diet of blood and gore, maniacs and scheming politicians, rest assured that yawns would maintain a safe distance from you, thanks to the editing. Equally good is the cinematography.
The back ground score and title song calls for a pat in the back. They are two prime contributors in setting the mood of the movie. Though loud at times (subjected to discretion), the back ground score acts as a spice to the murder and vengeance curry which the movie supposedly purports to offer. The title song sounds to be a summary of the movie’s motif.
Rakta Charitra is very much watchable, may not be with girl friend or siblings younger than ten. However, a gang of sanguine bloods is obvious to revel during the screening. It is time for Verma to feel satiated with underworld tales of blood and gore and offer his audience variety, lest he wants to avert oblivion. This piece of cinema might be remembered as an attempt at emulating Tarantino and his portrayal of violent histrionics on screen, however, larger than life projection marring the game for Verma this time.



Word of caution: If nausea grips you at the sight of a beheaded and blood bathed chicken, Rakta Charitra is not your cup of tea.
Ram Gopal Verma has always excelled in highlighting the nitty-gritty of the underworld, be it Satya or Company. However, Rakta Charitra falls short of attaining the realism of the aforementioned master pieces by Verma by miles.
His current fascination for red is bound to get to the audience’s nerves inadvertently, courtesy Rakta Charitra. Here, revenge is personified by lacerated and moaning victims, the victor standing by, holding the weapon, eyes gleaming with a pervert desire to kill more.
As with every Ram Gopal Verma movie, the antagonist to the law is the protagonist. Bubka Reddy, portrayed by Abhimanyu Singh, who had earlier shone in Gulal, can be safely concluded as the best choice of character. Portraying a character who is a scrooge in spending words (other than his romps with damsels where he vows to avenge his father’s assassination), alcoholic, sexholic, beastly, vicious, and all other adjectives worth attributing to a man personifying a beast’s incarnation, Abhimanyu excels.
Vivek Oberoi is pale in comparison. Beyond doubt, Oberoi has mastered the art of portraying grey characters, at times black even. However, the wronged character of Ravi Pratap, bereaved by the loss of his family, set out to avenge the loss, is overshadowed by the maniacal Bubka’s might. Oberoi tries his best in spite of looking queer in a double barrel moustache, but failed to rise above the mediocrity of the script.
A major drawback of the movie is that several characters are nipped off in the bud as soon as they start to bloom, be it the fugitive leader of Naxals played by Sushant Singh or the seemingly fearless police officer played by Ashwini Kalsekar, both perishing before Bubka. Similar treatment was meted to Bubka, as he dies a chicken’s death. Such irreverent treatment after raising him to the pedestal of a fear invoking lead character might be considered unjust by many viewers.
Technically, Verma has always been almost impeccable, however sad the script might be. Rakta Charitra is no exception. If you do not object to the diet of blood and gore, maniacs and scheming politicians, rest assured that yawns would maintain a safe distance from you, thanks to the editing. Equally good is the cinematography.
The back ground score and title song calls for a pat in the back. They are two prime contributors in setting the mood of the movie. Though loud at times (subjected to discretion), the back ground score acts as a spice to the murder and vengeance curry which the movie supposedly purports to offer. The title song sounds to be a summary of the movie’s motif.
Rakta Charitra is very much watchable, may not be with girl friend or siblings younger than ten. However, a gang of sanguine bloods is obvious to revel during the screening. It is time for Verma to feel satiated with underworld tales of blood and gore and offer his audience variety, lest he wants to avert oblivion. This piece of cinema might be remembered as an attempt at emulating Tarantino and his portrayal of violent histrionics on screen, however, larger than life projection marring the game for Verma this time.