Latest news with #TheHunt–TheRajivGandhiAssassinationCase
Hans India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
‘Mayasabha' trailer showcases a gripping political saga
India's leading OTT platform Sony LIV is set to raise the stakes in regional content with its upcoming Telugu original series Mayasabha: The Rise of the Titans, premiering exclusively on August 7. Known for acclaimed originals like The Waking of a Nation and The Hunt – The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case, Sony LIV continues to expand its storytelling scope with this politically charged drama. Set in the mid-1990s in undivided Andhra Pradesh, Mayasabha offers a fictional yet compelling narrative inspired by real political events. The series delves into the fierce rivalry between two young politicians from opposing parties—Kakarla Krishnama Naidu (AadhiPinisetty) and MS Rami Reddy (Chaitanya Rao Madadi)—as they navigate the murky waters of power, loyalty, betrayal, and personal ambition. Directed by Deva Katta and Kiran Jay Kumar, and produced by Vijay Krishna Lingamaneni and Sree Harsha under Hitmen &Proodos Productions LLP, Mayasabha also features Divya Dutta as IravatiBasu in a pivotal role. The trailer, launched today, offers a powerful glimpse into the series—opening with a political shake-up where the Chief Minister threatens to expel 35 MLAs and unraveling the tension-filled friendship between Naidu and Reddy. With layers of political drama and personal conflict, Mayasabha promises to be a thrilling watch. The series will stream in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam, aiming to connect with a pan-Indian audience.
News18
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Amit Sial On Playing SIT Chief In The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Series: ‘It Is Enriching'
Last Updated: Amit Sial plays the role of D.R. Kaarthikeyan, SIT chief in The Hunt – The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case. It has been over three decades since a blast in Sriperumbudur claimed the life of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In the follow-up events, the hunt for the killer took over frenzied columns in the newspapers as the Special Investigation Team started examining the evidence gathered from the site. At that time, the investigators got their first lead about the plot hatched by LTTE militants, supporting further in the probe. Based on Anirudhya Mitra's book 90 Days, award-winning filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor has dug deep into the political archive, delivering The Hunt – The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case. The seven-episode thriller series traces the investigation that unfolded after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. It will also focus on how the SIT team races against time to uncover the conspiracy and track down the lead mastermind. Amit Sial On Portraying SIT Chief Actor Amit Sial, who is seen in the lead role of CBI officer DR Kaarthikeyan (SIT Chief), recently opened up about his experience of portraying the character. Speaking to the Mathrubhumi English, Sial disclosed how he prepared for the character and said, 'I didn't have too much time on hand from the time I was offered the series to the time it was going on the floors to search for the investigation a lot but I did my research and looked up Dr Kaarthikeyan's life a lot I write and watched a lot of about him through interviews online what I gather doubt that that is the man who has been given this humongous task." Describing his experience as very unusual and exhilarating, Sial said the character brought him a lot of responsibilities and also restricted him at the same time, saying, 'I can't do my thing; I'm playing somebody else." Amit Sial also spoke about his own perspective on the assassination case as he took on the role of SIT chief. 'I was relatively aware of the case as it happened when I was 16 years old. In the following years, I kept reading about it here and there. There were a lot of talks about the care and the one behind the crime. To be able to extract the truth from the kind of darkness, the investigation was very labour-intensive." Besides Sial, other actors in key roles are Sahil Vaid, Vidyut Garg and Shafeeq Mustafa. The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case is currently streaming on SonyLIV. First Published:
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First Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Who was ‘one-eyed' Sivarasan, the mastermind of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plan?
A new series called 'The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination' relives the 90-day manhunt for Sivarasan, the LTTE operative who masterminded the deadly killing of Rajiv Gandhi. But who was he, and how did he hatch the plan to kill the former PM? read more Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi greeted as he arrives to make an address during an election campaign moments before he was killed by a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. File image/AFP On May 21, 1991, a bespectacled girl in an orange and green churidar bent down respectfully to touch Rajiv Gandhi's feet after he addressed an election rally in Sriperumbudur in India's Tamil Nadu. It was then that she set off a concealed explosive device that was strapped to her body. What followed was chaos and death; Gandhi, then aged 46, was killed along with 18 others, including the girl — later identified as Dhanu. This moment remains a black day in the history of Independent India. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It also set off a massive nationwide investigation for the conspirators — which has now been converted into a seven-episode serial on SonyLiv, titled The Hunt – The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. The gripping show, ( read our review) gives us a ringside view of the CBI investigation and a closer look at those involved in the assassination, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam operatives led by Sivarasan. But who exactly was Sivarasan? How did he plan the death of Rajiv Gandhi? And what happened to him after it? We have the answers. Meet one-eyed Sivarasan The man believed to have devised the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plan was Chandrasekharampillai Packiachandran, also known as Sivarasan. Born in 1858, in Udupiddy, a town about 32 km from Sri Lanka's Jaffna City, he had a normal childhood. Sivarasan's father inculcated in him strong nationalist feelings at a young age. When his father died in late 1977, Sivarasan, being the eldest child, had to bear the family burden and drop out of school and begin supporting the family — he had three brothers and two sisters. It was around this time, that Sivarasan began showing signs of disenchantment with the Sri Lankan government. In fact, during this period, he was arrested on multiple occasions for displaying strong pro-Tamil Eelam views. Around 1983, he joined the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (Telo), a militant group. But in the subsequent years, he joined the LTTE. During his time in the LTTE, he was injured in a clash with the Sri Lankan armed forces near the Jaffna Fort and he lost his left eye. Soon after, his fellow LTTE colleagues started calling him 'Ottaraikkannan' or 'one-eyed person'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Following the release of the 1961 Marlon Brando Hollywood film, Sivarasan became known as 'one-eyed Jack'. Sivarasan was specifically selected and assigned the task of killing Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE's Prabhakaran. File image/X Planning the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi As years rolled by, Sivarasan was promoted as captain in the LTTE and entrusted with specific assignments to be undertaken clandestinely in India. In 1990, he was tasked with the assassination of Kanthasamy Padmanabha alias Naabhaa aka Ranjan, who was the Secretary–General of the pro-India Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front. The success of this mission led LTTE chief Prabhakaran to assign him with his next target — Rajiv Gandhi. Unlike the Padmanabha assassination where firearms and grenades were used, another new method was to be used to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The entire responsibility of the mission was handed over to Sivarasan and he hatched the plan which saw him recruiting several other LTTE operatives such as Murugan, Ravichandran, Santhan and even Nalini. On the day of the assassination, Sivarasan, dressed as a journalist, reached the location of Rajiv Gandhi's rally and hid himself in the crowds. As Rajiv Gandhi walked to the crowds, it was Sivarasan who guided him towards Dhanu, who, in turn, garlanded Gandhi and then bent as if to touch his feet. She flicked a switch, resulting in half a kilo of plastic explosives in her suicide vest exploding, killing Rajiv Gandhi and others. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Sonia Gandhi, daughter Priyanka, and son Rahul turn to chanting mourners during the funeral of Rajiv Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on the banks of the River Yamuna in New Delhi. File image/AFP The hunt for Sivarasan and his death In the ruckus caused following the explosion, Sivarasan and his other conspirators fled the scene. However, what they didn't realise was that another photographer present at the rally had inadvertently taken photos of them. This led to a manhunt for Sivarasan, which ended up in the Bangalore suburb of Konanakunte in the state of Karnataka. In his book Ninety Days: The True Story of the Hunt for Rajiv Gandhi's Assassins, journalist-author Anirudhya Mitra writes, 'When he [Sivarasan] found that the police had surrounded his hideout in Konanakunte, he didn't immediately die by suicide. He knew the agencies would like to catch him alive, and yet he waited thirty-six hours for them to finally break into his hideout. It's only then that he shot himself through his temple. He was cunning, ruthless, brutal and devoted to his Tamil cause.' And when the authorities finally broke into Sivarasan's hideout, they found six of his comrades dead inside. They had all bitten into the capsule of cyanide that they wore around their neck. What is most ironic is that Sivarasan died on August 20 — the same day that Rajiv Gandhi was born. Also, the Indian Express reports that the residence in Konanakunte where Sivarasan and the other LTTE members stayed was converted into a police station and later the landlord rented it out to a school. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
