Kannada movie seeks to expose ‘truth’ behind communal politics in the state

Mangaluru: After Bollywood offerings ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’ stirred up a hornet’s nest over their controversial depiction of communal issues, a Kannada movie that claims to expose the gory truth behind communalization of politics and political murders is all set to hit the screens on June 16.Vinu Balanja, the director of ‘Bera’, which is the Tulu word for ‘business’, told TOI the film will bear the tagline ‘Merchant of Death’ as it attempts to unravel the truth behind murder politics.

Balanja further said the film exposes religion-based political leadership and how such leaders trade on the lives of innocents to further their political interests. “They can create vote banks at the cost of others’ lives, with religion acting as a pivot,” he added.The movie, produced by Divakara Das under the SLV Colours banner, has actors Suman Talwar, Harshika Poonacha, Harsha Vardhan, Aravind Rao in key roles. Manikanth Kadri has composed the original scores.The director claimed the story of ‘Bera’, though not based entirely on real-life incidents, is inspired by them.“Incidents of communal politics are reported not only in the coastal districts (of Karnataka), but also in other parts of the state. Moreover, we have witnessed the emergence of sleeper cells of terrorist organizations even in coastal Karnataka. The movie throws a light on that aspect also,” the director said.Commenting on the controversies over ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’, Balanja said both the movies had their own pattern. “‘Bera’ is a different story with a pattern of its own and it is left to the audience to decode its message,” he said.