"Red Alert had truly humbled me" - Anant Mahadevan

Anant Mahadevan directed Red Alert - The War Within has made people sit up and take notice worldwide. In last year's Stuttgart Film Festival 2009, this drama about the naxalite movement in India had received a standing ovation after it was screened as the closing film of the festival. Not just that, it was also hailed by international critics and also presented with 'Director's Vision Awards'.

"The response to Red Alert - The War Within had truly humbled me," says Anant Mahadevan who had to patiently wait for the film to eventually release in India, "It is the kind of film that always had the potential to qualify as world cinema. The film has an international appeal and relevance due to which it will certainly strike a chord outside India as well."

The film features Suniel Shetty as a farm labourer Narsimha, who desperately needs money to fund the education of his children. He finds himself in the midst of Naxalites where his mission becomes a mere subset of a greater cause that the militant's pursue.

Talking further about the character of Narsimha, Ananth says that he could be a part of any movement in any part of the world.

"The film is set in India but then it could have been anywhere else in the world as well, whether it was Cuba or Ireland! Whenever a revolution has taken place somewhere, there are men like Narsimha who get trapped", he says.

Red Alert - The War Within is based on a real life story. Though the film is the account of one man, it asks a few questions that do people fight to protect a nation that has forgotten them? Or, do people fight to survive and feed them?

Now that the film is ready to be unveiled in India this Friday, Mahadevan understands that expectations would be higher up from here on.

“I need to pull up my socks now," he smiles, “After getting recognition for my work, I can't afford to do anything lesser."

Produced by TP Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal, Red Alert - The War Within boasts of an impressive line up of ensemble cast that includes Vinod Khanna, Naseeruddin Shah and Gulshan Grover. Also starring Sameera Reddy, Seema Biswas, Ayesha Dharker, Bhagyashree, Ashish Vidhyarthi and Makarand Deshpande in principal roles, the film is written by Aruna Raje (most noted for her work in 'Rihaee', has action by Allan Amin, music by Lalit Pandit and lyrics by Javed Akhtar.