Cyanide was already a pan-India film back in 2006: AMR Ramesh

Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary falls on May 21, and director AMR Ramesh is re-releasing his 2006 Kannada film Cyanide to mark the occasion on May 22. “The movie, based on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins who were traced and killed in Bengaluru, gives us a brief insight into history,” says Ramesh. He also speaks about the challenges he faced while making the film and what lies ahead for him as a filmmaker. Excerpts:

We are now working on the prequel for Cyanide: AMR Ramesh
Crime still exists in India. Cyanide is relevant even today'
Talking about his decision to re-release the movie, Ramesh says, “We are working on the prequel for the film, which will explore how the group of assassins came to India and planned the murder of our ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The present generation wants to know exactly what happened at that time, which is why we are re-releasing the film. Also, due to the recent attack in Pahalgam, terrorism has taken the centre stage again.”

‘Back then, I was worried that the movie would be banned'
Initially, Ramesh shares that he was worried if the topic was too serious to be made into a movie, but he decided to go ahead with it anyway. “When I started working on Cyanide, I was scared because I was afraid it would be banned. But I was convinced by the story, and I knew it had to be told. So, I went through the censor board’s manual to understand all aspects of the guidelines. I made sure the script was written in a way that it would not defame anyone or hurt public sentiments. At the time, the censor board had issues with Kannada films, but Cyanide received a U certificate. It is also one of the first Kannada films to have had a storyboard,” he says.

'The day we shot the climax of the film, I lost my dad'
There is a lot that goes into the making of a film, including personal losses, recalls Ramesh. “We were supposed to shoot the climax of the movie with 500 people, but that very morning, my father passed away. Since we were on a small budget, I requested my DOP and team to carry on with the shoot. I joined them after I finished my father’s last rites. It was one of my most difficult days.”