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.
At no point in the film does one get the impression that RGV might be anywhere near regaining his lost touch. The maker of Satya and Company is nowhere in sight in this messy, pedestrian thriller.
Veerappan, as the film tells us upfront, was the most dangerous man who ever existed.
It took one of the costliest and most elaborate security operations and a two-decade-long manhunt to eliminate him.