Movie: Veerappan
Direction: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Sandeep Bharadwaj, Sachiin J Joshi
Music: Jeet Ganguly, John Stewart Eduri
Cinematographer: Aniket Khandagale
Editor: Anwar Ali
Genre: Action
Rating: ∗∗½
What is it about: The film is a biopic on the most notorious bandit “Veerappan” and it moves around the events which led to his capture and death. The film is directed by Ram Gopal Varma.
Why it’s disappointing: Sometimes biopic not taken the way it is supposed to become a disaster. One classic example is Veerappan, this bandit lived a life which shook the system. But his story wasn’t told with an intensity required to take this forward. It falls majorly short on narration, it seemed in a hurry to reach somewhere and eventually the climax presents itself.
It’s surprising to see a director of a calibre who gave some stupendous films like “Satya” & “Company” couldn’t pull off “Veerappan”. It’s quite discontinuous and presents you with facts just to fill the screenplay. And forgets to play it out.
The film had a great story to tell but disappoints with a poor narration.
Another disappointing factor was casting most of the characters looked plastic and were too tough on delivering a great performance and forgot they have to emote as well. This gets quite annoying after a bit. Lisa Ray tops the list in that, her performance seemed a tad bit plastic. Then it was Sachin Joshi who lacked the integrity required for a police officer in that character. That was followed by a series of actors who didn’t fit their attire.
What to watch out for: The film had great cinematography which was fulfilling the requisite, Aniket Khandagale did a good job. The editing was racy by Anwar Ali.
The lead character played by Sandeep Bharadwaj had uncanny similarity with Veerappan. He did a great job, his was one big saving grace for the film. The sad part was his performance was not matched with a strong direction.
Then it was the role of Veerappan’s wife played by Usha Jadhav, she did a commendable job and was a perfect fit for the role.
These two characters somehow try hold the film and the audience to sit through the fiasco. The background score by John Stewart Eduri was quite gripping which was well mixed.
Verdict: Ram Gopal Varma have lost the Midas touch which he had back then. I remember the days when it read RGV will be excited to watch, off lately that excitement has died. But when this trailer came out thought will be a good one unfortunately disappointed. Can give it a miss.
