Varma takes frequent liberties with the truth in this remake of his own Kannada film Killing Veerappan, but what you leave the cinema with at the end are shattered eardrums from the incessant background music.

The dizzying camera angles which have marred so many of RGV’s recent outings may have mercifully gone missing but the ear-shattering background music is right there.

It may well be a misfire, but Veerappan shows that at least RGV has his eyes open while squeezing the trigger. The dacoit is still at large.

…this 126-minute film has pace and a narrative technique which may give you a glimpse of RGV’s old charm. But, the mojo isn’t completely back yet.

This film is another reminder: it is time to launch a manhunt for the Ram Gopal Varma that Bollywood watchers once knew.

Or, else, let us just move on just as Hindi cinema has done from the heydays of the gangster flick.

For someone still reeling from the after-effects of watching Not A Love Story (never mind that RGV had a string of could-have-beens after that), this comes as an opportunity to prove us wrong, wasted. Where have all the Shivas, Satyas, Sarkars and Shools gone?

At the end of the day, Veerappan is hardly the redemption Ram Gopal Varma could have hoped for. It is 2.5 hours of unbearable torture.

The movie spans only the period of April 2004 until October 18, 2004, but it feels like you have lived the life of Veerappan, in the jungles, surrounded by mosquitoes (and bad dialog and silly characters)… Even though the man who plays Veerappan looks spot on like the dacoit, Ram Gopal Varma misses this one by a mile.

Overall, ‘Veerappan’ is a mediocre fare.

‘Veerappan’ is mildly menacing instead of an out and out menacing film. The movie had all the potential to become a hard-hitting cult drama if only the screenplay would have been a bit tight and had some better actors to perform.

Veerappan may be a let down if everyone expected this to be on lines with Band Queen or Paan Singh Tomar. However, there is a still a reason to smile here as we get to see the signs of RGV’s lost brilliance. If it was not for the lifeless performances from most of the cast and the silly BG score, this would have been a better film.

It’s upsetting that Ram Gopal Varma fans have to put up with this. Even the very few and far between visual flourishes are merely reminders of an auteur that was.

We won’t call the script incoherent.  In fact,  one of the film’s biggest plusses is its writing.  Even when the actors stumble at their jobs,  the material comes to their rescue.  But Ramu’s vision is compromised towards the end.  It is almost as if he didn’t know how to execute his story.  His confidence helps the ship sail through,  but there is hardly anything noteworthy to say about it.  Barring the scene in which the dacoit kills an informer,  there is not another equally overwhelming scene to its credit. 

…it’s definitely not what you want spend money on this weekend, or the coming weekends for as long as this film manages to keep a hold on the box office.