Explains Mantena, "We did this so that the people who lead the country would have a clear idea of what we've done. See, it's easy to believe hearsay, and fall for malicious attempts to prove that we've played around with the National anthem. Protest in our country is always based on ignorance. We wanted to change that."
This week 500 CDs of the Rann anthem were sent off to the MPs. "This is not meant to influence the judiciary, only to ensure that no one gets the wrong picture, " says Mantena.
The Rann publicity machinery claims the film will be released on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. But the inside information is otherwise.
Says a source, "The October 2 release date was Ram Gopal Varma's attempt to be as defiant and politically incorrect as possible. We've not fixed a release date for Rann."