It’s all about Veerappan

This could be one film that almost everyone in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would watch without fail. AMR Ramesh’s 10-year long research seems to finally be taking shape as he prepares to launch his bilingual project, a biopic on forest brigand Veerappan. While the Kannada film will be called Attahasa, the Tamil film will be called Vanayudham. The tagline for the film will be ‘The rise and fall of Veerappan’.

“Actor Kishore will be essaying the role of Veerappan. Arjun Sarja will most probably be playing the STF chief Vijaykumar. I’m hoping to rope in Akkineni Nagesjwar Rao to play Dr Rajkumar’s part,” says Ramesh, who will be focussing this film from a journalist’s point of view.

“I’m thinking of approaching Ramya or Priyamani for the role, considering they’re familiar faces in both the states,” says Ramesh, who has a formidable technical team as well. Antony will be editing the film, while Vijay Milton of Kadhal fame will man the camera. Yuvan Shankar Raja will compose music for the film.

“I’ve been researching on Veerappan ever since Dr Rajkumar’s abduction around a decade ago. Since then, I’ve spoken with various people who have been associated with him. Everyone I’ve spoken to, knows that I’m making this biopic,” says Ramesh.
Talking about what will be shown in this film, he says. “It will focus on some key events including the abduction of Dr Rajkumar, his rescue and the eventual encounter. It will also have his early life, tracing how he rose to take charge of all the forests and became the famous brigand of his times.”

Talking about Veerappan’s wife, Muthulakshmi, who had issued two notices to him, he says, “She’s currently serving jail term in Bangalore. In fact, a friend of mine, Murthy, has just bought the rights to make a film on her as well. I will only be touching upon a few aspects of her life, since this film is essentially about Veerappan. I had earlier asked her to play herself in the film. But now that she is in jail, it’s not possible.”

Ramesh, who will be producing this film himself, says, “I’m looking at shooting the film in the exact locations where it all happened, to keep the film as real as possible. This is why I’ve spoken to all keep people including cops like Vijaykumar, Gopal Hosur, Bipin Gopalkrishan and Kenchaiah, to get every single fact right.”