AMR Ramesh on why he’s re-releasing Cyanide and plans for the theatrical outing

AMR Ramesh’s two-decade old film Cyanide , which also came out in Tamil as Kuppi , is coming back to theatres on May 23, 2025. The film, which deals with the aftermath of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and the 20 days until the main conspirators of the bombing died in a house in Bengaluru, won a state film award for third best movie, as well as a best supporting actress honour for Tara.

AMR Ramesh: I want to introduce a new generation to the subject of Cyanide

Ramesh had announced the decision to re-release the film and his intention of doing a prequel a few days ago. But why is he bringing the film back? “There is a generation or two of youngsters that have absolutely no clue about the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the events that led to his assassination in a suicide bomb attack. Rajiv Gandhi died in 1991 and my film came out a good 15 years later. It’s been 20 years since and about time to refresh the memory of those who knew about the incident and make the younger generation aware of it,” says Ramesh.

The filmmaker added that he is targeting a 100-odd screen re-release on May 23, with a special show on May 21, the actual death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. Ramesh is also looking at giving chief minister Siddaramaiah a screening this week, considering that he has converted the old film reel to digial and given it a facelift, besides additional footage that was hitherto only a part of the Tamil version.

Cyanide starred Ravi Kale, Avinash, Rangayana Raghu (Shakhahaari ), Tara, Malavika Avinash, among others and will be the showreel for Ramesh’s proposed prequel, Cyanide: The Human Bomb, which he will begin shooting for shortly. This will be about the 90 days prior to the assassination, detailing how the LTTE cadres came to India, began surveillance of Rajiv’s movements and set in motion the plan that would be the suicide bombing at the election rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

The filmmaker has also shared plans to make a follow-up web series, which will detail the court case that ensues, considering that LTTE chief Tiger Prabhakaran is named accused number 1 in the assassination. The series will delve into Prabhakaran’s early years and his evolution to becoming the LTTE head.

Incidentally, this is the second web series that Ramesh is planning; with the first, a show on slain forest brigand Veerappan already in the works. Ramesh has sold the first 6 episodes to Waves OTT and is awaiting clearance to shoot the rest. The show has Kishore reprising his role as Veerappan from Attahasa/Vana Yuddham .