Veerappan review :
That Ram Gopal Varma loves Dawood and his company staff is well known. He also adores Veerappan. No kidding doston; till date the maverick director has made atleast 3 films on Veerappan...'Jungle' (2000) featuring Urmila Matondkar and Fardeen Khan, the Kannada docu-drama 'Killing Veerappan' (2015) and now the hindi 'Veerappan' which released yesterday.
While I haven't seen the Kannada film, 'Jungle' didn't make a good impression on me because it came in the era when RGV had 'Rangeela', 'Satya' and 'Koun' as his calling cards. Not anymore!! Today, after a string of intolerable duds ('RGV Ki Aag', 'Department' to name just two...), RGV ka Veerappan appears a significant improvement over those turnips but still doesn't come close to 'Jungle' - forget the outstanding 'Satya' (1997) or 'Company' (2002). So basically, Ramuji pass hue (..after multiple failures) par second class mein...
Starting horridly, the first fifteen minutes of Veerappan resemble an orgy of blood and gore where humans are mercilessly hacked to small pieces, elephants are shot dead and their tusks uprooted - all this to a continuous onslaught of ear blasting background music screaming Veer Veer Veer Veer Veerappan!!!!
Things get better when Varma starts focusing on the operation helmed by a nameless cop (Sachiin Joshi) to nail the elusive criminal with help of a widow (Lisa Ray, still looking desirable) of a slain task force officer.
RGV employs hard core commercial elements to narrate the biopic - like replicating Gabbar's introduction scene from 'Sholay' (1975) to giving a Rashomonesque twist to Veerappan's daughters death.
Zareen Khan's sensuous item number is left out and I certainly missed that on the big screen.
Anyways, a few facets of Veerappan are interestingly captured like his idolising the LTTE chief Prabhakaran and his unfulfilled ambition to kidnap Superstar Rajinikanth.
On the flip side, Sachiin Joshi and Lisa Ray are pathetic casting decisions. The background score is too loud and distracting. Editing cuts are haphazard. The film's length appears long even at just over two hours.
Of the cast, Sandeep Bharadwaj, in the titular role, looks convincing. Usha Jadhav as Veerappan's wife is completely natural. Her emotions in the concluding scene are spot on.
After a long time, RGV has made a fairly decent film but the touch of 'Satya' is still missing. He's getting there though.....
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.
That Ram Gopal Varma loves Dawood and his company staff is well known. He also adores Veerappan. No kidding doston; till date the maverick director has made atleast 3 films on Veerappan...'Jungle' (2000) featuring Urmila Matondkar and Fardeen Khan, the Kannada docu-drama 'Killing Veerappan' (2015) and now the hindi 'Veerappan' which released yesterday.
While I haven't seen the Kannada film, 'Jungle' didn't make a good impression on me because it came in the era when RGV had 'Rangeela', 'Satya' and 'Koun' as his calling cards. Not anymore!! Today, after a string of intolerable duds ('RGV Ki Aag', 'Department' to name just two...), RGV ka Veerappan appears a significant improvement over those turnips but still doesn't come close to 'Jungle' - forget the outstanding 'Satya' (1997) or 'Company' (2002). So basically, Ramuji pass hue (..after multiple failures) par second class mein...
Starting horridly, the first fifteen minutes of Veerappan resemble an orgy of blood and gore where humans are mercilessly hacked to small pieces, elephants are shot dead and their tusks uprooted - all this to a continuous onslaught of ear blasting background music screaming Veer Veer Veer Veer Veerappan!!!!
Things get better when Varma starts focusing on the operation helmed by a nameless cop (Sachiin Joshi) to nail the elusive criminal with help of a widow (Lisa Ray, still looking desirable) of a slain task force officer.
RGV employs hard core commercial elements to narrate the biopic - like replicating Gabbar's introduction scene from 'Sholay' (1975) to giving a Rashomonesque twist to Veerappan's daughters death.
Zareen Khan's sensuous item number is left out and I certainly missed that on the big screen.
Anyways, a few facets of Veerappan are interestingly captured like his idolising the LTTE chief Prabhakaran and his unfulfilled ambition to kidnap Superstar Rajinikanth.
On the flip side, Sachiin Joshi and Lisa Ray are pathetic casting decisions. The background score is too loud and distracting. Editing cuts are haphazard. The film's length appears long even at just over two hours.
Of the cast, Sandeep Bharadwaj, in the titular role, looks convincing. Usha Jadhav as Veerappan's wife is completely natural. Her emotions in the concluding scene are spot on.
After a long time, RGV has made a fairly decent film but the touch of 'Satya' is still missing. He's getting there though.....
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.