Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

Ananth Mahadevan directed RED ALERT - THE WAR WITHIN is making people sit up and take notice worldwide. In the recently concluded Stuttgart Film Festival 2009, the 'naxalite drama' 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'.

"This is not just a great news for me and my film but also Indian cinema. Our cinema is making rapid progress and it is heartening that worldwide audiences are appreciating cinema originating from Indian shores", says an ecstatic Mahadevan who also has his 'Staying Alive' making its presence felt in international film festivals.

Starring Suneil Shetty in the central role of Narsimha, 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?

Says Ananth who has earlier followed the Bollywood route and made DIL VIL PYAAR VAAR [musical] and AKSAR [suspense thriller], "Even when I was making these films, I always wanted to make a film for world cinema platform. It's difficult though but yet achievable. Look at Iranian films; they have caught our imagination. Film makers from these countries have worked hard to make a name for them globally."

"In the same way, RED ALERT - THE WAR WITHIN is a modest effort on my end to get into this kind of bracket. This is the reason why when Germans saw the film, they appreciated it because they didn't find any trappings of Bollywood in the narrative", he adds.

RED ALERT - THE WAR WITHIN features Suneil Shetty as a farm labourer, 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.

With a packed house comprising of German critics as well as regular viewers giving the film a standing ovation, Ananth Mahadevan is positive that he wants to work further in making films that are sensible and come with a reason and purpose.

"I need to pull up my socks now", he smiles, "After getting recognition for my work, I can't afford to do anything lesser. The film has an international appeal and relevance due to which it could strike a chord outside India as well. In fact I was told by some Germans there that the Naxalite movement as depicted in RED ALERT - THE WAR WITHIN reminded them of a similar movement that had happened in Germany years back."

Produced by TP Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal, the film 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.