Hyderabad:
Filmmaker Ramgopal Varma has been forced to censor his latest release
Rakht Charitra, under pressure from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Party activists vented their ire on posters of
Rakht Charitra and Ramgopal Varma in different parts of Andhra Pradesh. They were angry that the film has shown a character, who they feel is inspired by their party founder late N T Rama Rao, encouraging and taking advantage of gang wars in the state's Rayalaseema region, for his political benefit.
"NTR was never afraid of anything. To show such a person as encouraging factionalism is not correct. You cannot damage the sentiments of people and his followers. You cannot say let family members see it, and if they object we will remove, it is not correct," TDP president Chandrababu Naidu said.
The police had feared that the film that released on Friday would provoke angry reactions from supporters of real-life warlords in the region, but the gangsters seemed pleased with the film.
The NTR controversy has come as a surprise but Varma maintains Shatrughan Sinha is playing a character called Shivaji Rao, not NTR.
"There is no NTR. Shatrughan Sinha is playing the role of Shivaji. His name is Shivaji Rao," Varma said.
Producers of the film have, however, decided to remove the portions being considered objectionable in the Telugu version to ensure the film has a peaceful run.