'The choice of title was to grab attention'

Gandhinagar Grapevine

Rajesh Murthy picked up the nuances of filmmaking from his father H M K Murthy, who was a popular cameraman, producer and director in the Kannada television industry and has also worked with actors such as Dev Anand and Guru Dutt as an assistant cameraman.

Rajesh believes it is his lineage that has given him the strong foundation, to explore an unusual and a bold subject like ‘Red’. Rajesh talks to Nina C George about the making of ‘Red’. 

What is ‘Red’ based on? 

‘Red’ is an erotic thriller. It’s similar to the genre of films like ‘Murder’ and ‘Jism’. The movie is about a love affair all gone wrong. Before the woman could make amends to the situation, the plot turns sour and the woman finds out that the men in her life aren’t what they made themselves out to be. All the characters in the film have grey shades.

What did you have in mind when you chose ‘Red’ as the title?  Was it to grab attention?
The colour ‘red’ is symbolic of the tagline of the film which is — ‘Love, passion and murder’— all 3 can be associated with the colour red in some way. And, yes the choice of title was to grab attention because that’s what titles are meant to do. Red is also easy to remember and understand. I wanted a title that has no language barrier and yet sounds colloquial. For instance, people don’t use ‘kempu’ in Kannada in everyday conversation when describing the colour red. They just say red.
Tell us a little about the characters in the film. 

There are four main characters — a couple, lover and a cop. The role of the couple is played by Rahul and Kamini, the lover is essayed by Raj Aryan and the cop by MJ Prithvi, who also happens to be a popular RJ. Except Prithvi, all the other actors were chosen after an extensive audition.

What aspect of filmmaking do you like?

I enjoy writing thrillers and the experience of producing an erotic thriller like ‘Red’ has been exciting because it’s an art to shoot erotica without making it look sleazy or vulgar. That’s what I have attempted in ‘Red’.

We understand that a lot of women have appreciated the film.I have had a lot of women who have appreciated the way the erotic scenes have been portrayed in the film. Some men too have liked the way the scenes have been shot. We have made sure that there is nothing vulgar. This movie is an experiment at producing a low budget content with high value. I am sure we will have a mixed audience. Some may come only to watch the erotic scenes but I am sure there will be others who understand the aesthetics of
 the film.