Killing Veerappan

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Killing Veerappan
Killing Veerappan.jpg
Poster
Directed by Ram Gopal Varma
Written byRam Gopal Varma
K Balaji
Screenplay byRam Gopal Varma
K. Balaji
Story byRam Gopal Varma
Based on Operation Cocoon
Produced byB. V. Manjunath
B. S. Sudhindra
E. Shivaprakash
Starring
CinematographyRammy
Edited byAnwar Ali
Music byRavi Shankar
Production
company
ZED3 Pictures
Distributed byG. R. Pictures
Release date
  • 1 January 2016 (2016-01-01)(India)
Running time
151 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada
Box officeest.₹20 crore (US$2.3 million) [1]

Killing Veerappan is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language biographical crime film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, who co-wrote the film with K. Balaji. [2] The film is based on the events leading to Operation Cocoon to capture or kill Indian bandit Veerappan. [3] Featuring Shiva Rajkumar in the central role touted to be based on N. K. Senthamarai Kannan, the then Superintendent of police, with the Indian Special Task Force, and the spy who masterminded Operation Cocoon. [4]

Contents

The Kannada version was released in over 200 screens in the state of Karnataka on January 1, 2016. [5] [6] [7] [8] Upon its wide release, critics praised the performances, background score, cinematography, screenplay, casting, and direction while becoming a box office success, [9] [10] and subsequently got screened in Kannada cinema section at the 9th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2017. [11]

The Telugu dubbed version was released on 7 January 2016 to positive reviews [12] [13] and had a decent run at the overseas box-office. [14] The Kannada version has garnered three nominations at the 2nd IIFA Utsavam including Best Picture in Kannada, while Parul Yadav and Yagna Shetty have each received the Performance In A Leading Role and Supporting Role - Female respectively. [15] The film has also garnered five nominations; including Parul Yadav winning Critics Choice Award for Best Actress at the 6th SIIMA Awards, [16] [17] and one nomination for Best Actress at the 64th Filmfare Awards South. [18] The film was remade into Hindi as Veerappan (2016) with Bharadwaj reprising his role. [19] [20]

Plot

Forest brigand Veerappan (Sandeep Bhardwaj), dominant in Sathyamangalam Forest in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, defies the governments, and Indian Border security paramilitary forces, and maintains a small army of his own. 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 smuggling ivory 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 (Sadh Orhan), behead IFS Officer P. Srinivas (Gadda Viji). Years later, Veerappan avenges the death of his close associate Gandhi by misleading Special Task Force (STF) personnel in their covert operation, through Gandhi's unnamed notorious informer (Aziz Naser). The covert mission led by T. Harikrishna S.P. (Rockline Venkatesh), and his informer S.I. Shakeel Ahmed (Rajesh Nataranga) 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. (K. S. Sridhar) appoints his associate, an undercover I.P.S. spy in the Karnataka region, a master-strategist (Shiva Rajkumar), who puts in place the Operation Cocoon through a network of tribals, and informers, such as Deputy spy (Sanchari Vijay), a woman STF spy and landlord, Shriya (Parul Yadav), who befriends and rents out a house to Muthulakshmi-the wife of Veerappan (Yagna Shetty). On the other hand, a team of loyal undercover cops led by Rambo Krishna (K Gopalakrishnan), leave Palar base of STF, near M. M. Hills, 100 kilometres (62 mi) 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.Goplakrishnan, the IPS officer. Veerappan 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 foot board of the jeep is thrown out, and suffers 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 (Gundragovi Satya), disguised as a subordinate to Muslim underworld Don-Kadaani (Ramesh Pandit), to negotiate an arms deal with Veerappan's gang, the STF team led by master-strategist, and an ex-spy turned timberyard owner-Kumar (Srikanth Iyyengar), 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 they refuse, and the men start firing at the STF personnel. The STF retaliate by firing grenades and gun fire, subsequently Veerappan and his men are killed on the spot.

Cast

Production

Killing Veerappan is Ram Gopal Varma's second docudrama since the release of The Attacks of 26/11 . Killing Veerappan is produced by B. V. Manjunath, B. S. Sudhindra, E. Shivaprakash, and Ram Gopal Varma under the production house of ZED3 Pictures & G.R. Pictures. The film's music was composed by Ravi Shankar, Rajasekhar and the Background score was done by Sandy. The dialogues were written by Balaji K and the cinematography was helmed by Rammy. [22]

Soundtrack

Killing Veerappan
Soundtrack album by
Ravi Shankar, Rajashekar, Munna Kasi, Sathya Kashyap, Sandy
Recorded2015
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length30:50
LanguageKannada
Label Lahari Music

Ravishankar scored the film's background music and co-composed for the soundtrack along with Rajasekhar, Munna Kasi, Sathya Kashyap and Sandy. Lyrics for the soundtrack was penned by Chethan Kumar and Srujan. The soundtrack album consists of nine tracks including three instrumentals. [23] It was released on 3 November 2015 in Bangalore. [24]

Kannada track list
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Hayya Hayya (The Power of Shiva)"Chethan KumarRavishankar Shiva Rajkumar 4:49
2."Vadhayo Vadhayo"SrujanRajashekarRajashekar1:33
3."Spot Spot"Chethan Kumar Munna Kasi Puneeth Rajkumar 3:09
4."Hayya Hayya (Women Power)"Chethan KumarRavishankar Indu Nagaraj 4:42
5."Rakthava Kudiyo"Chethan KumarRavishankar Geetha Madhuri 2:34
6."Elephant Scream" RajashekarInstrumental1:34
7."Kill Beat" RavishankarInstrumental2:03
8."Hayya Hayya (Veerappan Mix)"Chethan KumarSathya KashyapShiva Rajkumar5:17
9."Love You Veera" SandyInstrumental5:09
Total length:30:50

Reception

Deccan Chronicle praised Shiva Rajkumar's performance, noting, "Forget Veerappan, watch it for Shivanna." [25] [26] The New Indian Express wrote, "Shiva Rajkumar as a cop is scarier than Veerappan". [27]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Rajkumar</span> Indian actor and singer (1929–2006)

Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest and versatile actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is considered a cultural icon and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora, among whom he is popularly called as Nata Saarvabhouma, Bangarada Manushya, Vara Nata, Gaana Gandharva, Rasikara Raja, Kannada Kanteerava and Rajanna/Annavru. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1983 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for Playback singing. His 39 movies have been remade 63 times in 9 languages by 34 actors making him the first actor whose movies were remade more than fifty times and the first actor whose movies were remade in nine languages. He was the first actor in India to enact a role which was based on James Bond in a full-fledged manner. The success of his movie Jedara Bale is credited to have widely inspired a Desi bond genre in other Indian film industries. On the occasion of the "Centenary of Indian Cinema" in April 2013, Forbes included his performance in Bangaarada Manushya on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Upon his death, The New York Times had described him as one of India's most popular movie stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veerappan</span> Indian criminal (1952–2004)

Koose Munusamy Veerappan was an Indian poacher, smuggler, domestic terrorist and bandit who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. He was wanted for killing approximately 184 people, about half of whom were police officers and forest officials. He was also responsible for poaching approximately 500 of the 2000 elephants killed in the peninsular region where he was active and for smuggling ivory worth US$2.6 million and about 65 tons of sandalwood worth approximately US$22 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Gopal Varma</span> Indian film director, screenwriter and producer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shiva Rajkumar</span> Indian actor (born 1962)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. Vijay Kumar</span> Indian police officer

K Vijay Kumar, IPS, is a retired IPS officer. He was the chief of the Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu that was involved in the death of the Veerappan during Operation Cocoon of 2004. He had also been the senior advisor to Home Ministry for the Left Wing Extremism areas. He served as the Advisor to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with Home, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Health & Medical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Hospitality & Protocol, Civil Aviation, Estates and Information portfolios. Currently he has joined back as senior security adviser in Ministry of Home Affairs in December 2018.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockline Venkatesh</span> Indian actor and film producer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Cocoon</span> Tamil Nadu Police operation to capture Veerappan

Operation Cocoon was an operation launched by the Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu Police to capture the forest brigand Veerappan and his associates, who were dominant in Sathyamangalam Forest in the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The operation was headed by K. Vijay Kumar, and N. K. Senthamarai Kannan.

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References

  1. ↑ "Killing Veerappan box office collection: Ram Gopal Varma-Shivaraj Kumar's film mints Rs 20 crore in Karnataka". International Business Times, India Edition. 13 January 2016.
  2. ↑ K. JESHI (26 August 2015). "Cinematographer Rammy on working with Ram Gopal Varma's film Killing Veerappan". The Hindu.
  3. ↑ Khajane, Muralidhara (23 April 2015). "'Killing Veerappan' to be launched on Rajkumar's birthday - The Hindu". The Hindu. thehindu.com. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Killing Veerappan Trailer Review: A Fantastic One!". www.filmibeat.com. 13 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Killing Veerappan first day box office collection: Shivaraj Kumar-Ram Gopal Varma's flick enjoys a good opening". International Business Times, India Edition. 2 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Muralidhara Khajane (January 2016). "Killing Veerappan to hit 700 screens today". The Hindu.
  7. ↑ Steve Richardson. "Ram Gopal Varma's Killing Veerappan Movie Review/ Ratings/ Critics". HCN Dayton News. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "RGV's 'Killing Veerappan' release date". IndiaGlitz.com. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "Killing Veerappan is a Slick RGV Thriller". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Archana Nathan (2 January 2016). "Killing Veerappan movie review". The Hindu.
  11. ↑ Khajane, Muralidhara (27 January 2017). "Oscar nominees among 240 films to be screened during Biffes". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Killing Veerappan Movie Review: Dr Shivarajkumar's Best Performance Ever!". www.filmibeat.com. January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Killing Veerappan Hitting Theatres on1st January". Chitramala. 8 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "Killing Veerappan slows down Bhale Manchi Roju, Abbayitho Ammayi collection at US box office". International Business Times . 12 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "IIFA Utsavam 2017 (2016) Kannada Full Show, Nominees & Winners". Updatebro.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  16. ↑ "Nominations list for the SIIMA 2017 announced!". Sify.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "SIIMA awards 2017 nominations announced". Sify . Archived from the original on 3 July 2017.
  18. ↑ "Winners of the 64th Jio Filmfare Awards (South)". Filmfare . 17 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "Sachiin Joshi to remake Ram Gopal Varma's 'Killing Veerappan' in Hindi". The Times of India . 27 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "Shocking revelation in RGV's Veerappan". 18 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Killing Veerappan Movie Review". The Times of India.
  22. ↑ "Killing Veerappan review by jeevi - Telugu cinema review - Sandeep Bharadwaj, Shivaraj Kumar, Rockline Venkatesh & Parul Yadav".
  23. ↑ "Killing Veerappan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "Killing Veerappan audio launch at Chamundeshwari studio in Bengaluru". The Times of India. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  25. ↑ S M, Shashiprasad (2 January 2016). "Movie Review 'Killing Veerappan': Killed 'him' yet again, and that's it!". Deccan Chronicle . Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  26. ↑ N, Veena (1 January 2016). "Killing Veerappan Movie Review: Dr Shivarajkumar's Best Performance Ever!". filmibeat. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  27. ↑ A M, Sharadhaa (31 December 2015). "'Shiva Rajkumar as a Cop is Scarier Than Veerappan'". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
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