A newspaper report inspired 'Red Alert'

The story of "Red Alert", a film based on Maoist violence in India, was inspired by a news report published in a leading national daily, says its director Anant Mahadevan.

"Actually I was inspired by a true story that appeared in The Hindustan Times about a farmer who got inadvertently trapped with a group of Naxalites," Mahadevan told reporters during a media interaction in Panaji, Goa.

"Red Alert", which stars Suniel Shetty, Seema Biswas, Naseeruddin Shah, premiered at the 40th edition of the International Film Festival of India.

"The (Maoist) movement is suddenly rising again. It had died down in between. It is a 40-year-old problem and now everyone is running after it," Mahadevan said.

Saying that the film was not a bird's eye view of the problem in India, the director said that "Red Alert" was actually a story about a "person affected by the movement".

Mahadevan said that like every issue in the world, Maoist problem too had more than one facet.

"There are two sides to a coin. It began because of the government's apathy to people who were denied their rights," he said, adding that Sunil Shetty was a perfect lead for the film, because he looked like a farmer.

"He looked like Andhra Pradesh farmer. He is from the south (India) too so half my battle in casting was over," he said.

Indo-Asian News Service