Ram Gopal Varma's new Hindi film Veerappan would have been better served by the title Killing Veerappan that he gave to his Kannada film on the late forest bandit that was released earlier this year. The name might suggest otherwise but Veerappan is not a biopic of the notorious sandalwood and ivory smuggler who eluded the police of two states for over two decades. It is, instead, a documentary-style portrait of Veerappan as seen through the eyes of the Special Task Force set up to capture him, while they work towards achieving their goal.

To find an actor who resembles the real-life character he has to play is a stroke of pure luck. But to fritter that away by making that reel-life character so uni-dimensional, so uninteresting is pure misfortune, both for the once terrific director, as well as for us viewers who live in hope for his return.

A society gets the criminal it deserves. Ram Gopal Varma bases his Veerappan on this Voltaire quote. Varma chronicles the life and times of India's most notorious criminal Veerappan in this film. Except, Varma does not. Veerappan has been touted as a biopic, but it is hardly the poacher's life Varma is talking about.

Maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who is known for making cult crime flicks like Satya, Company, Sarkar and others, has been consistently letting his fans down since the past few films. However, when the poster and trailer of his comeback film Veerappan was unveiled, his fans (including yours truly) hoped that Varma will be back with a bang to shut up his detractors.

Veerappan fictionalises the life of the notorious brigand, brought to us in typical Ram Gopal Varma style - gritty and engaging. Looks like Ramu has found his long-lost mojo with this one. A cop is killed by Veerappan (Sandeep Bharadwaj) and the dead man's wife Priya (Lisa Ray) joins the force as a spy to avenge her husband's death. And she uses the bandit's wife to get to him. That, more or less, is it.

The story speaks of the rise and fall of the world's most notorious sandalwood and ivory smuggler, Veerappan. Koose Muniswamy Veerappan (Sandeep) born to the jungles in South India, took to killing while still in his teens. Till he was ambushed on October 18, 2004, he had killed approximately 97 policemen and 900 elephants.

A 360-degree camera spin follows this Voltaire quote, and you find yourself surrounded by a dense forest and trumpeting tuskers. This territory belongs to Veerappan, a killing machine who counts LTTE chief Prabhakaran as his inspiration. You wish to know more about this rugged man, and a child appears with a camera mounted over his shoulders. The kid takes you on a time warp and loud background score ensures you remain stuck there for a while.

The fact that director Ram Gopal Varma has been off the boil for a while is known. The story of real-life forest brigand Veerappan, too, is well documented. When the twain meet in the domain of cinematic fancy, is dynamite the result? Not a hope in hell. Veerappan does not shy away from making a great deal of noise, but the film is more akin to soggy gelatin sticks delivering a damp squib than a big explosive device triggering an earth-shattering bang.

Till about a few years back, the whole of India was terrorised by a dangerous and merciless man named Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, who was commonly known as Veerappan or even the 'sandalwood smuggler'. After having killed many people, police officers, animals (elephants, majorly), his reign came to an end during the year 2004. This week's release is the Ram Gopal Varma directed VEERAPPAN, a film that has been inspired by the life of the dreaded Veerappan.