RGV all set to make his Sandalwood debut with ' Killing Veerappan!'

The Satya director Ram Gopal Varma has officially started Killing Veerappan! His debut venture in Sandalwood Killing Veerappan starring Dr Shivarajkumar was officially launched, here on Saturday with the film crew holding a presser while popular Sandalwood stars including Crazy Star V. Ravichandran, Real Star Upendra, Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar, music composer Gurukiran welcoming one of the most talked about director, both off and on screen, to the Kannada film industry.

Even as the non-stop shooting of the movie starts in less than 24 hours in various parts of the state, the director revealed that he wanted to do a movie based on the ‘true life’ of slain forest brigand Veerappan since ten years. “He (Veerappan) is one of the most talked about person, and one of the deadliest man hunt ever in the crime history of Asia. I wanted to do a film but when I heard about a character which played a vital role in killing Veerappan, I pushed it further, and no one other than Dr Shivarajkumar came to my mind when I thought of incorporating ‘that’ character for big screen,” says Mr Varma.

The movie will be primarily being made in Kannada and Hindi simultaneously, and whereas it will be dubbed in both Telugu and Tamil languages.

“I could connect very well with Shivanna, who liked my narration. Shivanna was one of them who had gone through tough situation when his father the legendary late Dr Rajkumar was kidnapped by Veerappan. He was my natural choice and insofar as the role of Veerappan is being played by a person from the North India who is looks very similar to Veerappan. He is being trained for few months now preparing for the deadliest role,” he adds.

However, Killing Veerappan will not feature the episode of Dr Rajkumar kidnap, and according to the director, the film will focus on the true incidents which are still largely unknown to the public. “A year and half before he was killed will be the main focus of Killing Veerappan.”

The film also stars Parul Yadav and Yajna Shetty along with Rockline Venkatesh who will be seen in a special and vital role. As a build up to the shooting, Mr Varma released the background theme music of the movie.

Talking about his Kannada-Hindi venture based on the life of Veerappan, Century Star Shivarajkumar says, “I was shooting abroad for Vajrakaya when RGV called me. Initially, he spoke to me causally recalling our association in the past but later he discussed about the project. When I heard the two versions of the script, I liked it so much and was waiting for the shooting to start. Now, we are both like lovers talking almost all the time about the project.”

The movie is tentatively slated for release in October, and the first theatrical trailer will be released on July 12 on Shivanna’s birthday. Also, Allan Amin, the top action director of Bollywood of the fame of Satya, dhoom2, Rang De Basanti will be action behind RGV’s Killing Veerappan.