Veerappan is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographicalaction crime film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film is based on the real-life Indian bandit Veerappan and the events leading to Operation Cocoon, a mission to capture and kill him. The film stars Sandeep Bharadwaj, Sachiin J Joshi, Usha Jadhav and Lisa Ray. The film was released on May 27, 2016. Veerappan received positive reviews with critics praising narration, production design, direction and performances of Sandeep Bharadwaj, and Usha Jadav.
Plot
Koose Muniswamy Veerappan during his teenage starts working as an assistant to his relative Sevi Gounder, a notorious poacher and sandalwood smuggler. His father and relatives, whose village lay in the forest area, were also known to be poachers and smugglers. Veerappan, dominant in Sathyamangalam Forest in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, defies the governments, and Indian Border securityparamilitary forces, and maintain a small army. He is wanted for killing approximately 184 people, about half of whom were police officers, including senior police and forest officials. He was also wanted for poaching about 200 elephants and smugglingivory worth US$2,600,000 and about 10,000 tonnes of sandalwood worth approximately US$22,000,000. In 1991, Veerappan and his chief Intel Gandhi, behead IFS Officer P. Srinivas. Years later, Veerappan avenges the death of his close associate Gandhi by misleading Special Task Force personnel in their covert operation, through Gandhi's unnamed notorious informer. The covert mission led by T. Harikrishna S.P., and his informer S.I. Shakeel Ahmed to kill Veerappan fails miserably. Veerappan and his army brutally assassinate all the STF officers in the operation and snatch their arms. The Tamil Nadu STF chief K. Vijay Kumar I.P.S. appoints his associate, an undercover I.P.S. spy in the Karnataka region, a master-strategist, who puts in place the Operation Cocoon through a network of tribals, and informers, such as a Deputy spy, a woman STF spy and landlord, who befriends and rents out house to Muthulakshmi-the wife of Veerappan. On the other hand, a team of loyal undercover cops led by Rambo Krishna, leave Palar base of STF, near M. M. Hills, from Kollegal of Karnataka along with a team of 41 members which includes police from two states, forest officials, forest watchers and informers. The team travels in two vehicles, of which one is a bus carrying most of the team members, and a jeep carrying K. Gopalakrishnan, the IPS officer. Veerappan's gang plants landmines on the road in more than 14 places to halt their approach, and during the Palar blast, K. Gopalakrishnan, standing on the footboard of the jeep is thrown out, and suffer severe injuries, leaving the police to retaliate and ultimately prevent the snatching of arms. After few failed attempts, including the one led by another undercover cop, disguised as a subordinate to Islamic underworld don - Kadaani, to negotiate an arms deal with Veerappan's gang, the STF team led by master-strategist, and an ex-spy turned timberyard owner-Kumar, finally succeed on 18 October 2004. On that day, Veerappan is escorted out of the forest by Kumar who earlier infiltrates Veerappan's gang in disguise to negotiate another arms deal with Velupillai Prabhakaran. Subsequently, Veerappan and his men board an ambulance stationed at Papparapatti village in Dharmapuri district. Veerappan and his men are first warned and then asked to surrender, which was denied, and the men start firing at the STF personnel. The STF retaliate by firing grenades and gunfire, subsequently Veerappan and his men are killedon the spot.
Pratik Vijay Redij is the production designer for the film. Following the success of Ram Gopal Varma's second docudrama, Killing Veerappan, Varma met with Sachiin J Joshi, and emphasized his interest in developing an international biopic version in Hindi language with a new cast and crew. The biopic depicts the dramatic rise of Veerappan. In an Interview with "Indian Express" Varma stated that “Making Veerappan is not about glorifying a criminal, but it is to put a mirror to how he was allowed to happen in the first place”.
Reception
Upon its release, Veerappan received mixed reviews with critics praising narration, production design, direction and performances of Sandeep Bharadwaj, and Usha Jadav. In an Interview with "Indian Express" Varma stated that “Making Veerappan is not about glorifying a criminal, but it is to put a mirror to how he was allowed to happen in the first place”. The CBFC has cleared the film with a single cut. The "Times of India" gave the film 3.5/5 for its visual appeal, and 3/5 for direction.
