A new Malayalam film on Rajiv Gandhi assassination plot has stirred a controversy with its director claiming that a senior official had botched up the operation to catch one-eyed jack Sivarasan alive in Bangalore. What distinguishes the film’s director Major Ravi from others is the fact that he himself was one of the National Security Guard commandos who performed the operation.
The film Mission 90 Days starring Mammootty portrays the pent-up frustration of a commando who couldn’t successfully execute an operation. Major Ravi alleged that the head of the special investigating team (SIT) probing the Rajiv assassination wanted Sivarasan’s hideout to be stormed in his presence only. “This delay proved costly as it gave Sivarasan enough time to kill himself,” the director said at a face-to-face programme here. SIT chief D R Karthikeyan has said in his book that he was in Hyderabad when the team neared the house on Aug 18, 1991.
“We waited for him to arrive. It keeps haunting me that we could not catch him alive,” he said. Though it was a major blunder, Ravi said that Karthikeyan did not do it intentionally. Sivarasan and his followers were found dead after consuming cyanide at a house in Bangalore’s Konanakunte locality.
“This film is based on my personal experience. I have not diluted the reality in any way for the sake of commercialising it. The only gimmick in the film is a Malayalam song,’’ the director said. Major Ravi worked as an assistant to filmmaker Priyadarshan after quitting the army. His first film Kirthi Chakra released last year. Ravi is now planning movies based on Kargil war and Kandahar plane hijack drama.