In the early 90s, when television was still in the indolent stage, there was an important programme which was watched by adults as well as children – not by choice but by default, as they did not have hundreds of cable or OTT channels back then. Unlike today, News was an important medium to improve general knowledge. Once it showed a very prominent image, a man with his signature moustache and distinctive style. Koose Munisamy Veerappan was more famous than Osama Bin Laden in India during that time.
He was a dreaded criminal who was wanted in sandalwood smuggling, poaching of elephants, and killing of approximately 184 people including policemen and forest officials. He was the real don of his time, wanted by the police of three states and who had evaded them for more than 20 years.
At one point in time, he became a legend and was regarded as the Robin Hood of India. Many myths were aired around his persona. Popular culture – including several films, series, and documentaries – was made to peep into the life of the King of the Jungle, but none come close to the accurate depiction.
The director Selvamani Selvaraj of the gripping series “The Hunt for Verrappan”, streaming on Netflix shed some light on the life of Veerappan. There are only four episodes covering the 52 years of journey of one of the most wanted criminals, who once carried the reward of 15 crore rupees on his head. The first episode “The Forest King” deals with the making of the criminal, and the second episode “The Bloodbath” shows the retaliation by the kind. The third episode “The Revolutionary” talks about the transformation in his character and the final episode mainly deals with the last days of Veerappan.
The docuseries is very thrilling and entertaining. The humane touch in the form of Veerapan’s wife is a very credible addition and it makes it even more interesting and factual. The story is very smooth but after finishing the series you feel that something is missing. We can clearly see how a police perspective is presented in the documentary. The director was treading very cautiously throughout the series. The series never delve deeper into the atrocities by the police force on innocent people which was widely reported by the media. The documentary looks biased in this regard, it may be due to the political and social pressure around the personality of Veerappan. It is possible that the makers did not want to glorify the most wanted criminal in the country. However, Veerapan’s wife Muthulaxmi’s version and one of his associates Anburaj’s version somehow make this documentary balanced or near balanced.
Veerapan was worshipped by the people of Tamil Nadu although he was a criminal. The states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have spent crores of rupees to nab him. He was Robinhood for the general public and regarded as a dreaded criminal by the states. How can a person be both at the same time is the serious question the documentary should answer. Additionally, everybody wants to know a part of the series to explain the events that led to his encounter.
In a nutshell, it is a nice effort to peek into the life and death of one of the most dreaded criminals who ruled in the jungle of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The documentary explained several hidden facts which had been a secret till now, but the documentary is very close to making him a hero.