Rakht Charitra

Ram Gopal Varma's 2010 film is about the link between politics and crime in Andhra Pradesh. The narrative follows a man drawn into that cycle when his father is killed while he is a university student, and who eventually becomes a politician; the story is adapted from real events. The film does not stylise violence but shows it constantly. The logic of the blood feud, each killing producing the next, and how political parties use that cycle are all worked out in detail. Varma's camera works in extreme close-ups and tilted angles, a manner that divides opinion. The film was designed in two parts and the second appeared the same year. Changing the names of the real people does not make the events less recognisable, which caused argument in Andhra. Who it's for: those who like Indian films that work politics and crime together. Who it's not for: viewers who want to avoid heavy and graphic violence; the film shows it almost without pause.