Daring, rebellious, with a strong appetite for revenge, narratives on Naxalites have been narrated in the past through the various offerings of Indian cinema. Their characteristics, their fight to survive and win, and oppression and bloodshed have turned out to be the key ingredients of many such dramas. Interestingly, Ram Gopal Varma, known for his real-life portrayals and strong content, tops the chart in making such spine-chilling stories. Recently, much has been said about his upcoming series, Dhahanam, an MX Original series, which also seems to be inspired by a true Naxal story of the South.
What grabbed our attention to this similarity was the intriguing trailer of the upcoming show. The portrayal of bloodshed and a never seen before story of revenge does not seem to be for the faint-hearted.
The trailer gives us a glimpse of rural India, where rebels have been operating from within the forest. All the chaos begins when Sri Ramulu (played by Vinod Anand) is murdered and his son, Hari (played by Abhishek Duhan), then takes it upon himself to find the murderer and avenge the death of his father. The events lead to an intense conflict-ridden war between the most influential people in the village. Does this sound familiar?
Most people don’t know that years back, Sri Ramulu was a communist worker in Rayalaseema whose murder gathered huge attention back in the 1970s. This led his son, Hari, to take extreme steps and join the Naxalite movement to avenge his father’s death. It seems that Ram Gopal Varma has covered the incidents related to this murder in his upcoming crime thriller, Dhahanam.
There are lots of movies and shows based on Naxalites. But only a few of them have done justice to it. It will be interesting to see how Ram Gopal Varma and Agasthya Manju have portrayed such a sensitive issue on screen!
We can’t wait to explore more such striking coincidences that will surface once the show releases on April 14th.
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