Sunil Shetty's character in Red Alert is based on the true-life story of a reformed Naxalite leader. The actor says, "An uneducated farmer gets caught in the crossfire between the Naxals and cops, is forced to join the Naxals but ends up reforming their educated leader.

Director Ananth Mahadevan and his team have based the film on a real-life story of two such men.

Of course, today, these men have no identities. This uneducated farmer convinced the educated Naxal leader to give up his beliefs and today that leader is the CEO of a top company that employs over 10, 000 employees.

The leader had picked up the gun because of poverty and unemployment." Sunil plays the farmer, Narsimha, a cook while Vinod Khanna plays Krishnaraj, the leader of the Naxalites in the jungle.