Veerappan

1991 151’ col Kannada d/s Raveendranath pc Jain Movies p Chandulal Jain lyr Doddarange Gowda c Mallikarjuna m Guna Singh lp Devaraj, Lokesh, Vanita Vasu, Sivakumar, Manu, Girish, Rajaram, Avinash, Thoogudeepa Srinivas, Sundarakrishna Urs, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Mysore Lokesh, Triveni, Chandrakumari, Leela Basavaraj, Ratnamma, Sumalatha, Radha, Vijay, Seema, Ravivarma, B.M. Venkatesh

Topical film referring, in part, to notorious reallife sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, operating on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, who hit the news following a series of violent encounters with the police in the early 90s. Like crime journalism dramatising the confrontations between the good and bad while retaining a veneer of support for the legal system, the film is formally dedicated to the police who lost their lives in their efforts to capture Veerappan. However, it begins with a scene in which Veerappan (Devaraj) discusses and gives his approval to the production. A priest then explains Veerappan’s life as being a consequence of his impoverished childhood. This leads to the next character, Nayakan (Lokesh), formerly Veerappan’s employer, but now his enemy, who points to the latter’s Robin Hood-type inclinations. Veerappan’s revenge for the rape of his sister and his encounters with the police then follow. The film ends with a pair of brave police officers setting out to get him, but he eludes them.

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