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Face-to-face with Veerappan: He speaks to you directly for the first time...Koose Munisamy Veerappan review!

By alagu, 14 December, 2023
Veerappan, Koose Munisamy Veerapan, zee5

Veerappan, the name that blends with popularity and mystery, is one of the profiles that drove a decade-long conflict with the Indian law enforcement mechanism and is one of the notorious criminals in the country, whose life offers us no dearth of twists and turns. Regarded as a poacher, smuggler, and forest brigand, Veerappan has dominated the forest areas of three South Indian states - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, for over three decades. 

Though he ruled and knew every thick and thin of the thousands of hectares of thick jungle, little did the thousands of people knew about his life and what made his life confine in the woods, that later culminated to becoming one of the most notorious criminals. There have been a slew of stories and theories about Veerappan that offered similar perspectives with little or no delving into his real life. 

Now, for those people who wanted to know the true story behind Veerappan's life, the end is over. Veerappan speaks to you directly for the very first time about his life and how it evolved to give him a scandalous identity. Marking a momentous event, the docuseries 'Koose Munisamy Veerappan' has been released on Thursday - December 14 on Zee 5 and opened to a thumping reception.

The docuseries has earned a sharp attention ahead of its release and visuals of Veerappan's speech had reaped great deal of expectations. The docuseries is produced by RV Prabbhavathi under the banner of Dheeran Productions, which is a production venture of Nakkheeran news journal, prominently known for its investigation journalism and is active in Tamil Nadu for over three decades. 

Nakkheeran's editor-in-chief Nakkheeran Gopal is acclaimed for revealing Veerappan's face for the first time to the outer world. In what has become an extraordinary walk of life as a journalist, Nakkheeran Gopal closely followed and travelled with Veerappan and shared his stories in pictures and writings. During the early and mid 1990s, Gopal and his team, risking their lives, had perilous treks in the woods and met Veerappan and took interviews.  

Those interviews, that became historic treasure, were the only footages that carried Veerappan's speech about his life, his past and his future aspirations. The total footages that, according to our sources, run for nine hours remained untold for these many years and now, this docuseries 'Koose Munisamy Veerappan, produced by Nakkheeran's venture, brings out that treasure. Veerappan will be speaking to us directly for the first time and indeed for the last. 

Why this docuseries is so special and must-be-watched? 

The crux of this docuseries is Veerappan himself narrates his life, from how it started to how he wants to be destined. The first season of the two-season docuseries was released on Thursday and it has six episodes, covering the young Veerappan, his rise, and his beginning as a most notorious criminal. For us, the name Veerappan has lot of mysteries behind it and as Veerappan removes the knots through these episodes, it was as nail-biting as a crime thriller. 

Titled in his birth name 'Koose Munisamy Veerappan', the docuseries intrigulingly takes us through the obscure jungle of Veerappan and the horrific events that happened under the guise of capturing him. As a notorious criminal, poacher, and forest brigand, there had been a war between Veerappan and the law enforcement agencies of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as he sheltered in a jungle that shared borders with two states. 

We could have heard about how the policemen and the teams of Special Task Force (STF) of both governments tortured the villagers during their operation to hunt Veerappan. Hauntingly, this docuseries for the first time reveals the grim scale of atrocities committed by the STF personnel and how they ruthlessly tortured the villagers and tribes to capture Veerappan. The kins of the victims, and victims themselves, share the nightmare they endured in the hands of these personnel. 

They also share the techniques of torture and how their voices were suppressed in unjust claims that they know the whereabouts of Veerappan. On the other hand, the docuseries also pictures the crimes done by Veerappan, including 1993 Palar bomb blast and the killing of a police offcer, and have him speaking about why he had done them. 

This flawlessly-made docuseries begins with an interview of Veerappan's elder daughter Vidya, who shares about her birth, her rising, and her yearning to be with her father. Some of the speakers of the docuseries include veteran journalist N Ram, former editor-in-chief of The Hindu, Tamil politician Seeman, actress Rohini, former Tamil Nadu DGP Alexander, senior reporters of Nakkheeran, and Nakkheeran Gopal. 

Gopal, who is known for his courageous journalism, was appointed as an emissary by the state governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to rescue iconic actor Rajkumar, who was kidnapped by Veerappan during the late 1990s. Gopal has also rescued several forest officials who were once kidnapped by the forest brigand and he shares his journey of meeting Veerappan, revealing his face, and covering his story in this riveting docuseries. 

While Veerappan speaks about his life and his perspective in these never-seen-before tapes, the speakers share theirs and how they see him. In the world of several unverified theories and stories, Veerappan's untold tapes appear to be breaking all of the former and give us a new idea about his unchanged identity as a notorious criminal. The efforts of entire crew deserve a standing ovation as the brilliant making will never allow us to take our eyes from the screens. 

Interestingly, Veerappan shares his political aspirations from whom he liked most to his request to Superstar Rajinikanth. It also gives us an idea about how Veerappan's future would be, had he been alive. While the docuseries is created by Jayachandra Hashmi, who is also the writer of the recently-released docuseries 'Label', RV Prabbhavathi, and Vasanth Balakrishnan, it is directed by Sharath Joshi. It is certain that the music, composed by Satish Raghunathan, editing, done by Ram Pandian, and cinematography, handled by Raj Kumar stood as the strong pillars of this gripping docuseries, along with the stupendous research, done by Vasanth Balakrishnan, and making. 

The first season of this much-awaited creation has drawn positive acclaims from the critics as beyond being an unblemished making, it also changes the history that we knew so far and gives us what we should know, from the untold chapter of his life, the atrocities and injustice committed by the police and STF personnel, including sexual harassment on women and arbitrary torture on men. With its perfect storyline and unbiased research, we can say Koose Munisamy Veerappan docuseries is one of the special and greatest releases of this year. 

Watch the trailers of the docuseries

 

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