Rakta charitra is a two-part Indian biographical film based on the life of Paritala Ravindra, directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film features Vivek Oberoi as Ravindra in the lead role, whilst Surya Sivakumar as Suri, appears predominantly in the second part. Shatrughan Sinha, Sudeep, Abhimanyu Singh, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Sushant Singh, Priyamani and Radhika Apte play other supporting roles.
The film starts with a narration about politics and gangs in Ananthapur district, Andhra Pradesh. The opening scene of a murder in broad daylight, which the narrator calls "rakta politics", sets the tone of the movie. Narasimha Reddy, a local politician, is a powerful man in the area. His close associate Veera Bhadra (Rajendra Gupta) is his trustwothy ally for his political work, to the extent that Narasimha Reddy gives him freedom to contest Jilla Parishad polls with his men. Veera Bhadra champions the causes of the poor and oppressed and they look up to him like their leader.
Plot
As Bukka Reddy and his brother Puru Reddy see their father's dead body, Bukka becomes enraged to the extent that he slaps the policewoman (Ashwini Khalsekar) who has come to take the body for postmortem. The story progresses as famed filmstar-turned-politician Shivaji Rao (Shatrughan Sinha) targets Anandpur for contesting elections. The day he enters Anandpur for the rally, Bukka's men throw bombs, which makes Shivaji Rao get back inside the car and go back. This insults him greatly and he asks his secretary for the one who can stop Bukka. Immediately, his secretary mentions Pratap's name; Shivaji Rao sends for him and puts down a proposal of joining his party and ticket for contesting elections. On the other hand, Bukka Reddy makes his brother Puru Reddy contest for elections and tries to sabotage the voting process by stealing the ballots. Pratap starts his rampage by eliminating, one by one, every rival of his party. Eventually, he comes across a man named Babu Qadri who seeks Pratap's help in avenging his sister's death. Bukka Reddy had raped his 16-year-old sister, because of which she immolated herself, and Bukka had then broken Babu Qadri's leg. Pratap assures him his vengeance but asks him to forget everything for some time.
As Bukka's men fail in rigging the election process, Pratap wins by a majority. Immediately, Bukka Reddy is arrested. Puru Reddy seeks the help of opposition leader Sethji's help in influencing the release of Bukka on bail. As soon as Pratap learns of this news, he looks out for the location where Bukka is hiding. Bukka, inflamed with the desire to avenge his father's death, hides out in an apartment with his men, and plots to kill Pratap Ravi. Pratap comes to know about his hideout devises a plan to execute him. He immediately gathers his men and calls Babu Qadri, who had sought Pratap's help in avenging his sister, to lead the execution of Bukka Reddy. He calls for the servant of Bukka Reddy and bribes him with 5 lakhs to aid in the execution. Babu Qadri and Pratap's men rush into the apartment, killing all Bukka's men; Babu shoots at Bukka but he escapes the bullets and runs to the balcony through the back door, where Babu shoots him from behind, and hacks him repeatedly with his axe, venting his anger. Pratap Ravi, being at the peak of his power with Shivaji Rao's full support, invites all the gangsters of the state to his place for lunch; after lunch he orders everyone to stop their illegal activities or face the music, emphasizing the power that he has in the state now.
