Veerappan: Beera of Ravan movie: robin hood for the poor

	These photos throw light on the kind of life Veerapan leads in his forest hideout...»

Has anybody wondered why one of India's most wanted criminals, with an official murder tally of 120 people, managed to remain invisible for more than four decades? Why is it that a force dedicated especially to capture him (STF), has been unable to drag him out from his natural habitat, the sandalwood forest, in 10 years?
First of all, the nation and especially the task force, needs to understand that Veerappan is not a myth. Of course, he remained virtually a mythical figure until a Nakkeeran reporter, Sivasubramaniam, brought him to limelight in the early 1990s. Ironically, the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka police did not even have the latest photograph of Veerappan until Nakkeeran broke the story. A lot has happened since then, but the bandit remains elusive to the police but visible to the local tribes who have nourished his ‘Robin Hood’ image.
Veerappan's roots
Nothing much is recorded or written about the brigand's early childhood or family background. All that is known is that he was born into a poor and backward Tamil-speaking Padayachi family. The village was Gopinatham in the Kollegal taluk of Karnataka, bordering Tamil Nadu. Since Gopinatham is set in the mountainous forest region, Veerappan was a natural in the jungles that would become his habitat for the rest of his life.
Early hits
It is not known how he took to the life of crime. Locals say that he was inspired by Malayur Mammattiyan, a notorious bandit of the 1950s and 60s, who hailed from Salem, close to Veerappan's native village. Veerappan's first recorded murder was that of Paramasivam, brother of Karuppan who killed Malayur Mammattiyan in an inter-gang war. However, Veerappan came into prominence only after he killed Tamil Nadu forest officer Chidambaram in July 1987. Apparently, Chidambaram was killed because he was an honest forest officer who sought to end sandalwood smuggling.
It seems logical that Veerappan took to sandalwood smuggling and poaching much earlier, probably in the late 1970s, as he was arrested sometime in 1986 by the Karnataka police and lodged in Mysore jail. This is the only time Veerappan has ever been in custody.
A seasoned criminal
Veerappan's crime graph shows that initially he targetted only forest officials who came in the way. They included Karnataka Deputy Conservator of Forests P Srinivas who believed that he could reform the brigand. Veerappan lured him into the forest on the offer of surrender and shot him dead. He left his severed head on a rock to serve as a warning to others. Some local sources say that Srinivas got too close to Veerappan and was also involved with his sister.
The hunt
Following the brutal murder of Srinivas, the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments constituted the Special Task Forces in May 1990. From then on, it has been a long battle between the Veerappan gang and the police in which more than 100 persons have been killed by the bandit, at least half of them police personnel.

Veerappan was on the run from 1991 to 96, when the Tamil Nadu STF was headed by Additional Director General of Police Walter Dawaram, known to be a ruthless cop. It was also the period when several innocent tribals were tortured, detained illegally or under TADA or shot dead in fake encounters on charges of supplying ration and extending such other help to Veerappan.
That was when Veerappan turned to quarry owners on both sides of the border for help. The quarry owners had no choice but to cough up "protection money". Apparently, they also supplied explosives with which Veerappan ambushed Tamil Nadu police patrols.
Dawaram claims that during that period, the STF reduced Veerappan gang's strength from 150 to eight. Many find it hard to believe that Veerappan was moving about with such a large entourage and yet was invisible to the police. But the fact remains that Veerappan felt the heat thanks to sustained STF operations and frequent encounters...
Abduction business

Veerappan turned to hostage-taking in December 1994.The first victim was a deputy superintendent of police in Coimbatore district, Chidambaranathan. Veerappan seized him during a visit to his farmhouse in Sirumugai. The compelling reason for this was not just to press for amnesty, which of course Veerappan did, but to get urgent medical aid for his brother Arjunan, who was wounded in an encounter.

Arjunan was allowed to come out, given treatment and detained after the hostage crisis ended with a police raid. Arjunan and two other gang members were reportedly bumped off while being transported to Mysore. The police version is they committed suicide by consuming cyanide.

Veerappan took hostages on two more occasions in 1997 to press for general amnesty, but eventually released them unconditionally and unharmed. The DMK, which was in power from 1996 to 2001, was known for being sympathetic to him but obviously could not give into his demand for amnesty.

Veerappan's pinnacle

It was Dr Rajkumar's abduction in July 2000 which got him national attention. For the first time, it became known that Veerappan had included in his gang members of two dreaded Tamil extremist outfits, the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army and the Tamil National Retrieval Troops, both modeled on the LTTE.

The nexus came to police notice when Veerappan and members of these two gangs launched a joint attack on a police station near Sathyamangalam in December 1998.

But they kept it a closely guarded secret. The nexus came to light when Rajkumar was abducted. Of course Veerappan had to release Rajkumar eventually when it became apparent that the two Governments would resume combing operations. Two major demands put forward by Veerappan concerned the release of five TNLA and TNRT extremists in Tamil Nadu jails and 51 TADA detenus in Mysore jail. The extremists are still in jail. But the TADA detenus have since been released by the Mysore sessions court.

Will he get caught?

Now Veerappan has struck again. Can he ever be caught? The chances are slim. He operates in a 6,000 sq km jungle. His survival instinct is strong. He has been known to be ruthless with his own community if anyone was known to help the police. At the same time, he has been generous with money to those who help him. As a result, he has acquired a Robin Hood image which the police find hard to fight.

While the police have all the latest gadgets, including AK-47 assault rifles and night vision binoculors, Veerappan still carries old hunting rifles. Though in his mid-50s, Veerappan is still physically active. He is constantly on the move, sometimes walking 40 kms a day. The jungle is so thick in some places that the visibility will be hardly 30 ft during daytime. He always pitches camp, for lunch or dinner, at a place which gives him a commanding height.

And finally, his information network has proved to be far more faster and reliable than the police's. He has struck twice in the same place, abducting Nagappa just a little over two years after seizing Rajkumar. And choosing the day when Rajkumar is on a visit to his farm house near Kollegal, the first since his abduction from there, and all police force is concentrated on the actor.

As always with Veerappan, it is a question of chance

Veerappan shot dead: anti climax in ravan

Veerappan shot dead

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

A file photo of the elusive forest brigand Veerappan. — AP

CHENNAI, OCT. 18 . The elusive forest brigand Veerappan was shot dead by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) late tonight. At least four persons, including possibly his close aide, Sethukuzhi Govindan, are believed to have been killed in the exchange of fire in jungles in Dharmapuri district, which borders Karnataka.

Police sources here said that the bodies of those killed in the shootout were being brought to the plains and could reach Dharmapuri early on Tuesday morning. The incident took place between Padi and Papparapatti around 11 p.m. The sources said they had information that apart from Govindan, Madhegowda and a Tamil extremist, Sethumani alias Sethumalai, were killed. An STF party led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police carried out the operation, apparently on a tip-off that Veerappan was being rushed in an ambulance for medical attention to the plains.

The hunt for the 60-62 year-old Veerappan had gone on for well over a decade and was intensified whenever he indulged in brutal killings or hostage taking. Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar was among his most recent hostages. Despite an all-out effort by both the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments, the brigand was elusive all these years. At least about 130 persons were killed as also 2,000 elephants in the Veerappan gang's operations in the jungles between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Soon after Mr. Rajkumar's release, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu intensified their operations and the two STFs were assisted by the Central Reserve Police Force along with a team of commandos. But the operations proved futile.

The police in both States maintained that it was difficult to track him down in the dense 6,000-sq km forest area. After committing a crime in Tamil Nadu, he would get into the jungles of Karnataka or even Kerala. Though he was reportedly sighted on a few occasions, the STF could not get him dead or alive. After a killing incident in 1987, Veerappan became notorious, but the real hunt was stated to have begun from 1990. Since then, there had been periodic episodes of kidnap, demands, negotiations and intensified search, and then no news at all.

Veerappan earned notoriety as a sandalwood smuggler, in addition to looting ivory after killing elephants. When the laws governing forest wealth were tightened, Veerappan took to hostage-taking for ransom. He used the funds to keep himself going and buy provisions and other requirements from villagers. Most of the villages in the jungles were almost under his control — some found his money useful and others were too afraid of tipping off the police. Informers were invariably killed.

Initially, the brigand was supposed to command a gang of over 100 persons. But, over the years, due to the frequent police operations and the necessity of keeping the numbers small to avoid detection while in movement, it dwindled to anywhere between four and six.

What caused concern to the Tamil Nadu police was the involvement of some Tamils extremist groups with the brigand. This was evident during the Rajkumar kidnap drama in 2000.

Though there were offers by the Tamil Nationalist Movement leader, P. Nedumaran, and R.R. Gopal, Editor,Nakkheeran, to negotiate his surrender, this was not possible because no government was prepared to grant Veerappan an unconditional pardon, which he demanded.

The Tamil Nadu STF is currently headed by the Additional Director-General of Police, K. Vijay Kumar, who was earlier Chennai Police Commissioner. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, has congratulated the STF on the operation. She hailed the police for their determined effort at bringing the curtains down on the dreaded smuggler.

Good news: Jayalalithaa

Ms. Jayalalithaa said: "It is with the sense of great pride and fulfilment that I wish to announce to the people of Tamil Nadu the good news that the notorious forest brigand, bandit, murderer and dacoit Veerappan, along with his entire gang has been shot dead by the STF on October 18 in a daring and intrepid operation, bringing to a conclusion the manhunt that has been on for nearly two decades."

She congratulated every member of the STF and the Tamil Nadu police for their valour and professionalism.

Veerappan: Anatomy of a life of crime

Anatomy of a life of crime

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

DHARMAPURI, OCT.19. Veerappan, who was born at Gopinatham in Kollegal taluk of Karnataka, took to a life of petty crime such as poaching and tree felling at the age of 12. Soon enough, the lure of money made him a full-fledged criminal. He took to murder and abduction shortly thereafter.

Veerappan started off life in the major crime league by plundering forest wealth, joining hands with Xavi Gowde. The focus was primarily on elephant tusks, which fetched big money and led the bandit to felling elephants ruthlessly.

The growing demand for sandalwood soon led him to sandalwood smuggling at the age of 18. In his bid to overcome official resistance and to silence law enforcers, Veerappan targeted forest officials and police officials who stood in his way. His list of enemies grew.

Veerappan's first escape from the law came in 1965, after forest officials arrested him for killing an elephant. In due course, he formed his own gang, posing a challenge to both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The murder of a number of forest personnel during three successive years from 1984 turned the attention of the media as well as the State Governments on him.

Escaped from police net

On a visit to Bangalore in December 1986 during the SAARC summit, he was arrested by the police. But once again he escaped. The subsequent murder of forest ranger, Chidambaram, near Erode, drew nationwide attention.

The killing of five persons from his native village in 1989, the abduction and release of five forest personnel in June 89 and the killing of a forest guard in August `89 meant that he was not out of the limelight for long.

These incidents brought home the need for an organised and sustained effort to contain, if not arrest a growing criminal force. Consequently, a special wing of the police came into existence in 1989, both in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, charged with the mission of apprehending Veerappan.

Task force set up

The high-profile murders of the Karnataka Deputy Conservator of Forests, Srinivasan, in 1991, the Karnataka Superintendent of Police, Harikrishnan, in 1992 and sub-inspector, Shakeel Ahmad, in 1992, which put Veerappan on the front pages of the newspapers, led to the setting up of the Special Task Force.

The Special Task Force formally came into existence in 1993 after a landmine attack on the Superintendent of Police, Gopalakrishnan, and his team at Palar near Mettur during a combing operation.

Such became his notoriety that a battalion of the Border Security Force was requisitioned in 1993 to conduct operations against him. Veerappan while carrying out his criminal operations kept insisting on pardon and general amnesty, which none of the Governments could promise. The beheading of hapless villagers suspected of being informants made Veerappan a dreaded name in the Western Ghats.

His forest offences since 1978 included the killing of nearly 2,000 elephants for their tusks.

Veerappan is estimated to have killed 77 civilians at Gethesal, Thalavady, Hasanoor, Arepalayam, Pulinjur and nearby hamlets, nine police personnel from Tamil Nadu, one from the BSF and 24 police personnel from Karnataka. Karnataka lost 24 civilians and four forest personnel while the Tamil Nadu Forest department lost a range officer.

106 cases

There are 106 cases against him in Tamil Nadu, and 70 in Karnataka. His acquaintance with Tamil extremist movements such as the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) and Tamil Nadu Retrieval Troops opened up new avenues to pursue his thirst for money, resorting to several abductions. Notable among them were the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Chidambaranathan, in 1994, the Karnataka matinee idol, Rajkumar in 2000, and the former Karnataka Agriculture Minister, H. Nagappa.

Climax of ravan: Veerappan story

The strategy worked flawlessly

By G. Satyamurty and V.S. Palaniappan

Photo: K. Ananthan 

The sub-inspector Velladurai (left), and the STF driver, Saravanan, who drove the ambulance for the gangsters.

SATHYAMANGALAM, OCT 20. "Either we capture the enemy or we get killed: these were the options available to us when we were sent on the Operation Cocoon," said Saravanan, who drove the ambulance that took Veerappan and his gangsters to the site of the encounter at Papparapatti in Dharmapuri district late on Monday night.

Speaking to reporters at the Sathyamangalam Special Task Force camp, Mr. Saravanan said, "We were fully aware of the risk but were confident of accomplishing the mission". Sub-Inspector Velladurai (who shot to fame in the Ayodhyakuppam Veeramani encounter at Chennai) was chosen to infiltrate the gang. He won its confidence posing as an armed revolutionary activist associated with groups in Sri Lanka. After assuring them medical aid and safe passage from the Yemanur and Pennagaram jungles, which are under tight STF vigil, he persuaded the gang to exit the forests in an ambulance.

Timing and location

A police vehicle was redesigned to look like an ambulance. This involved fabricating a compartment separating the driver's cabin from the rear side, that hid the four-member gang. The sub-inspector sat in the front seat along with the driver, Saravanan.

The vehicle proceeded towards the encounter site where the STF teams --- codenamed Angel, Rocky and Cobra, had taken up position after ensuring that the last bus on the route crossed the point. The teams had to wait for the night show at a nearby cinema either to end or act well ahead of it, to ensure that civilians were not hurt or killed in crossfire. The ideal window for the operation was put at between 10.50 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.

A desolate stretch was chosen for the ambush. The teams then took position inside a bunker created atop a lorry (one of the three commandeered for the purpose). The strategy was to position them for a strike from a reasonable height — a strategy used by Veerappan to ambush STF men and forest personnel. More policemen, armed with assault rifles, took positions atop a nearby school building.

One lorry carrying hidden armed reinforcements was positioned a 100 meters, ready to storm the ambulance, while another lorry laden with sugarcane was used to block the ambulance to make Veerappan believe it was heading for a sugar mill in nearby Palacode. Once intercepted, the brigand was asked to surrender over a megaphone. At this moment, the two STF men in the ambulance escaped. The gang greeted a second call for surrender with gunfire; the STF opened retaliatory fire on the ambulance. It was all over soon; a 15-year public menace had been eliminated in just 45 minutes. Ten months of meticulous planning had borne fruit.

Ravan : Movie review

Raavan is not a story, it is a world. Beera Munda - Undisputed, Unlawful, Untamed Dev Pratap Sharma - The Punisher; the Law, the Righteous Ragini - Conscience, Beauty; Music Dev falls in with Ragini, a spunky classical dancer who is as unconventional as him. They get married and he takes up his new post in Lal Maati, a small town in northern India. A town where the world of law is not the police but Beera, a tribal who has, over the years, shifted the power equation of the place from the ruling to the have-nots of the area. Dev knows that the key to bringing order to any place is not to vanquish the big fish; in this case - Beera. In one stroke Dev manage to rip open Beera's world, and set in motion a change of event which will claim lives, changes fortune. Beera, injured but enraged hits back starting a battle that draws Dev, Beera and Ragini into the jungle. The jungle which is dense, confusing, scary. And in this journey they must confront their own truth. A journey which will test their beliefs, convictions and emotions. Emotions which are as scary and confusing as the forest. The forest becomes the battleground. The battle between good and evil, between Dev and Beera, between Ram and Raavan. But when the lines dividing good and evil are blurring fast whose side will you take. When hate turns to love and the good starts looking evil. Which side will you battle for? Love is the battle that nobody wins but everyone must fight. Even this Raavan.

Raajneeti: Moview review

Raajneeti
(Political Drama)

Friday, June 04, 2010

Cast: Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai, Naseeruddin Shah and Katrina Kaif Music: Pritam Chakraborty, Aadesh Shrivastav, Shantanu Moitra, Wayne Sharp Director: Prakash Jha Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Raajneeti, writer-director Prakash Jha’s sprawling portrait of a political family, is a mixed bag. The film has moments of ferocious power and just as many flaws.

The narrative has a propulsive movement in the first half but becomes dramatically inert in the second. Jha, who has fought elections in Bihar himself, creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly ‘filmy’ moments – like a ridiculous love-making scene that is triggered because the characters get wet in the rain.

Apparently getting soaked in Bollywood still equals sex. And, as almost all the female characters in this film find out, having sex even one time, still equals babies.

The performances are strong—especially Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Nana Patekar—but the characters are largely one-note.

There has been much hype about Katrina Kaif learning lengthy Hindi dialogue for the film. She’s clearly worked hard but her luminous looks rather than acting are still her trump card.
Raajneeti is a film with ambition and scale but it works in fits and spurts. Jha’s political epic is too busy and bumpy and never quite fulfils the potential inherent in the story.

Raajneeti sources as much from The Godfather as it does from the Mahabharata. So we have sets of cousins whose rivalry spills into the open as soon as the head of the family suffers a stroke.

The film begins with a back-story of Sooraj Kumar, the Karna-like figure played by Ajay Devgn. Abandoned at birth, Sooraj is adopted by a Dalit family.

In quick succession, so many characters are introduced that Jha uses a voice-over to explain who is connected to whom and what the political affiliations are. It takes a good 15 minutes to take in the details and place the characters but the story-telling is engaging and soon you’re caught up with this Machiavellian family in which the plotting begins even as the father is still being treated by doctors. As the stakes get higher, the moves get bloodier.

Eventually, Samar Pratap, the Michael Corleone figure played by Ranbir Kapoor, the young brother who is working on a PhD on Victorian poetry, gets sucked into the murderous struggle for power.
Until here, Jha and his co-writer Anjum Rajabali tell the story with assurance and flair. But then the momentum dips and the intrigues become less and less interesting. Critically, Samar’s conversion to a ruthless murderer isn’t convincing. One minute he’s the student and the next, he, like everyone else is trigger-happy with bombs and guns.

Jha even borrows The Godfather’s famous severed horse-head scene.

Only here, a politician wakes up to find his male lover’s throat slit. Sadly, the gut-wrenching twist, when Kunti reveals to Karna that he is her son and therefore warring with his own brothers, is not done very effectively.

For the true power and emotion of that moment, watch Shyam Benegal’s Kalyug, in which the Mahabharata is transported to a business milieu. Shashi Kapoor who plays the Karna figure crumples slowly as he becomes aware of his own tragedy.

In its second hour, Raajneeti lets go of logic. We know that politics is an amoral, brutal cesspool but even so, leading politicians themselves murdering their rivals on a street in broad daylight is a bit of a stretch.

In a climactic shoot-out, we even have a perverted version of the Gita sermon in which the Krishna figure, played by Nana Patekar, insists on cold-blooded murder. Come on, finish them, he says.

Of course there is no one to root for in this gallery of rogues but more troublesome is the specious morality of the film. After a few feeble apologies, Samar Pratap finds a semblance of redemption.

Eventually then, Raajneeti is as exhausting as it is compelling.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=518&ShowID=550&cp

Kites: Hindi movie review

Kites Preview
A love story that crosses borders and linguistic barriers, Kites is a tale of romance between an Indian guy and a Mexican beauty. Starring Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori in lead roles, the movie is directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan . The film has Hrithik playing a man named J, who once used to be a clever, street smart, charming guy, but is now a wanted man. To add to his woes he's left to die in the scorching heat of the Mexican desert. Only one desire keeps him alive, to find the woman he loves. That woman is Natasha (Barbara Mori). She is engaged to another man, but that makes no difference to J. If loving her brings down loads of troubles on him, J would happily bear it all. What is the fate of this love story where the lovers don't even speak each other's languages? While she talks in Spanish, he speaks Hindi with a smattering of English. Kangana Ranaut completes the love triangle by adding another angle to the Hrithik-Barbara love story. The film has some breath-taking dances from Hrithik, Barbara and Kangana. The choreography in these songs is by Flexy Stu, a renowned American choreographer. For one song shot in Mumbai, Farah Khan did the choreography.

Country : India
Movie color: Color
Language: Hindi
Genre: Romance / Action / Thriller
Release Date: May 21 2010
Banner: Film Kraft