MUMBAI: The first look of Ram Gopal Varma’s Not A Love Story is out. And the director, though he protests that the film is not a replication of the Maria Susairaj case, is apparently keen to let people get clued into the real-life antecedents for his macabre thriller.

No stranger to troubled biographical films Varma’s last directorial venture Rakht Charitra had supporters in Andhra Pradesh of the outlawed politician Paritala Ravi gunning for the politician.

A source tells Businessofcinema.com, “Though Ramu protests that that the film is not a story of Susairaj’s alleged murder case he is secretly hoping people won’t believe him. Because he has done rigorous research on exactly transpired in that small apartment where the murder happened. Varma has recreated every single detail down to the minutest incident that transpired in the apartment. In fact, the first-look poster is an exact replica of what research material in the actual murder case has described about what must have happened in that apartment in March 2008.”

There is the added complication of the real-life case impinging on the reel with the real Maria Susairaj’s defence-lawyer claiming she was a virgin.

Varma has apparently shown the on-screen avatar Mahie Grill indulging in far-from-virginal activities.

The source adds, “Not A Love Story is Ramu’s most torrid film to date. Usually he fights shy of showing physical intimacy on screen. This time he has pulled out all stops because he had to show the desperate passion of the protagonists in order to justify the desperation that led them to commit the heinous crime.”

Varma remains poker-faced in his disclaimer. “When I am saying my film is not about Susairaj where is the question of  offending anyone?”