'Rann' offers peek into India's media industry

Bollywood actors Ritesh Deshmukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Neetu Chandra and Gul Panag (L-R) pose at a news conference for their upcoming film ''Rann'' in Mumbai January 12, 2010.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Ram Gopal Varma's latest film "Rann", about the highly competitive world of television news reporting in India, has been inspired a "hundred percent" from real events, the filmmaker said.

"Rann" is an insider's account of how news channels greedy for ratings are being manipulated into sensationalizing stories to grab eyeballs.

"I am going to expose the media in this film and that is not necessarily a bad thing," Varma told reporters on Tuesday.

"A lot of times democracy is being controlled by forces that are not always visible to us."

"Rann" stars Amitabh Bachchan as the owner of a news channel who is forced to compromise on his principles for the sake of ratings.

Bachchan said the film wasn't a media-bashing exercise, insisting it was an attempt to show both sides of the story.

"The media is a mirror to the nation and we all have tremendous respect for the kind of work they have done," he said.

"Rann", which releases on January 29, also stars Riteish Deshmukh, Gul Panag, Rajat Kapoor and Mohnish Behl.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar)