Raktha Charitra 1: RGV's own 'roaring rampage of revenge'

Revenge has a new name – Rakhta Charitra. Rakhta Charitra is RGV’s own ‘roaring rampage of revenge’, his desi KILL BILL 1 & 2. The movie is RGV’s full-scale romance with violence and a tribute to his inspiration Quentin Tarantino. The slow-motion scooter scene introducing the violent protagonist, the merchant of death as well symbolizes the leisure for the pleasure from violence.


This is of course only the first of 2 parts, so RGV is free from the burden of showing the grey shades and creating drama. So he creates a black and white picture. Pratap is horribly wronged through the killings of his father and brother. We are the visual witnesses to how his father’s head was crushed under a boulder. RGV put good sound for the crush. I wonder if he very soon considers making a 3D movie with this kind of horror and violence. Bukka Reddy is an abominable creature who deserves to be hanged a million times. And again we are witness to how he treats women. So it is easy, with the fantastic casting and good performances, the movie appeals to the viewers’ most basic instinct – revenge. When Bukka is being hunted to death, every viewer enjoys the orgy of gun shots and the camera angles as sickles fly for his body parts. That is RGV, the story teller back in form.


RGV stews the emotions masterfully with these black and white characters. Some scenes make huge impact.
1) Narasimha Reddy’s wife’s reaction while her husband is killed.
2) Pratap’s father’s killing


RGV’s attention to detail showed in the art direction with the vehicles, houses all wearing a 90s look – non-flashy and taking a backseat to the revenge story. Telugu audience may like the movie more out of the Parita Ravi story correlation. For others, this may not be that impactful but nevertheless is watchable. With a rooted story, RGV got his bearings back after a series of uninspirational flicks. As usual, RGV’s casting is bang on and it worked wonders. Vivek Oberoi, Abhimanyu Singh, Shatrugan Sinha performed wonderfully. Even the small characters made an impression. I now have a mountain of expectations on Suriya in the 2nd part. And the trailers look very promising.