It was 2004. Nearly a month earlier than the Lok Sabha elections, when former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK aligned with the BJP in Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa was on a campaigning spree and roadshows throughout Tamil Nadu calling AICC chief Sonia Gandhi as Antonia Maino have been getting standard among the many lots of Tamil Nadu.
As a correspondent working for Jayalalithaa’s Jaya TV, I travelled for round 60 days through the marketing campaign along with her convoy, masking the primary leg of her election marketing campaign. At Sathyamangalam, I made a decision to step down from the convoy and my colleague Ramani took over.
After spending a day at Sathyamangalam, on the behest of former minister Ok.A. Sengottaiyan, who was organising Jayalalithaa’s marketing campaign, I made a decision to go residence to satisfy my father in Coimbatore. However unexpectedly there was a change of thoughts as I learn the morning newspaper. I wished to enter the Sathyamangalam jungle and work on a narrative on forest brigand Veerappan. This was when Operation Cocoon was at its peak and the Particular Job Pressure (STF) was working tirelessly to nab the dreaded bandit.
I walked into the jungle, with one in all my junior colleagues Bhuvana and my digital camera individual Radhakrishnan, having fun with the scenic great thing about the forest. Sounds of chirping birds and the sight of mist masking the bushes, gave us the power to stroll up additional. After a couple of kilometres, as we tread deep into the forest, we have been stopped by a set of STF policemen. After the same old inquiry we went up additional into one of many STF camps. I had a protracted dialog with one of many officers on the camp. It was an off-the-record chat, the place he gave me particulars of Operation Cocoon, its progress and what sort of an individual Veerappan was. However he wished us to return to the foothills of the Sathyamangalam forest as early as we may. He took us in his Jeep to one more camp, additional deep into the jungle, and confirmed us how the police personnel have been working in troublesome instances. Later, he dropped us again on the foothills. I had spent an entire day with the STF, however didn’t get an unique story.
As a reporter, who had reported in depth on Kannada celebrity Rajkumar’s abduction by Veerappan, his affiliate Nagappa’s escape, press conferences of journalist Nakkeeran Gopal, who was despatched as an emissary to satisfy Veerappan and in addition Tamil Nationalist chief Pazha Nedumaran, there was at all times an urge in my thoughts to do an in depth piece on Veerappan, his life and his days within the jungle. On October 18, 2004, when my colleague was despatched to report on the killing of Veerappan, I even fought with my editor for not sending me.
‘Hero’ and legal
And now, a long time later, as I watched Netflix’s four-part docuseries The Hunt for Veerappan, directed by Selvamani Selvaraj, I’m taken again to these days which got here to an finish with Jayalalithaa felicitating your complete STF crew for killing Veerappan.
The docuseries, which runs slightly over three hours, begins with Muthu Lakshmi, spouse of the forest brigand, recalling the day she first met him. She slowly shares anecdotes of him being celebrated because the ‘hero’. It additionally options interviews of journalist Sunaad and forest officer B.Ok. Singh.
Previous images, newspaper cuttings, disturbing music and aerial photographs of the deep darkish jungle set the temper for the documentary about one in all India’s most well-known outlaws. The primary episode delves into Veerappan’s journey from an peculiar village boy to an elephant poacher and sandalwood smuggler who was known as the “forest king.” The Hunt for Veerappan strings collectively the accounts shared by Muthu Lakshmi, Sunaad, Singh and STF officer ‘Tiger’ Ashok Kumar supplemented with archival images, movies and audio cassettes taking part in messages from Veerappan. The interviews are revealing, significantly the one with officer Senthamarai Kannan and the dealer who didn’t wish to reveal his id. The villagers additionally share intimate particulars of the sufferings underneath Veerappan.
The Hunt for Veerappan displays the deep analysis work achieved by Selvaraj and his crew earlier than they sat right down to file these interviews. The narration by journalist Siva Subramaniam, who was the primary individual to {photograph} Veerappan, reveals us how Veerappan’s life modified after that.
As a lot because the gripping docuseries captures the true spirit behind the police operation, it additionally portrays the disdain of cops in an period when expertise was restricted. At first, nonetheless, plainly the collection is glorifying Veerappan. The second and the third half do full justice and reveal the true story of a dreaded legal.
Regardless of the extreme analysis and use of archival materials within the docuseries, The Hunt for Veerappan stands out for some key omissions. Embellished police officer Shankar Bidari, finest remembered for destroying Veerappan’s gang, has not been interviewed by the makers. Vijay Kumar, who led operation Cocoon, has additionally not been interviewed. Yet one more important man is lacking—Nakkeeran Gopal, a person who’s believed to have identified Veerappan up and shut.
That mentioned, the collection stays true to its title by delivering particulars and sticking to the timeline from 1989 to October 2004.
Present: The Hunt for Veerappan
Director: Selvamani Selvaraj
Streaming on: Netflix
