[water dripping]
[somber music playing]
[Muthulakshmi in Tamil] Karnataka police hit me with lathis.
They broke both my knees.
They tied my hands and hoisted me up using a pulley.
They gave electric shocks where a baby drinks milk from.
They made a man give me electric shocks on my genitals.
I had to crawl on my ass after that.
The news leaked enough to reach the Tamil Nadu police.
They started enquiring about what was happening there.
After that, they sent in two policemen for my protection.
They took me to court.
"Tell the court that you choose to be with the police."
"If you don't say that, we will leave you behind in court."
"Karnataka police will take you back."
"They will take you and do anything they wish. We aren't responsible."
I told the police everything.
"We stayed in this place at this time."
"When this incident happened, the gang was here."
What could I do?
They asked me to talk and I had to speak.
[somber music continues]
One day, my mother and my sister
came with my elder daughter to meet me.
She didn't know that I was her mother.
I asked her if she wanted to have a bath. She said yes.
I took her to the bathroom and gave her a bath.
Because she'd played in the mud that day,
her hair was full of mud.
[voice breaking] I felt so bad when I saw her.
[sniffles]
[sobbing softly]
I wanted to be with my husband,
but I decided to live with my children.
[Sunaad in English] What defines this entire story
is the psyche of the man himself.
I'm convinced that his brain ticked
in a completely different manner
compared to any other human being that one could imagine.
The strength of his gang had dwindled.
Most of his associates had been either arrested or gunned down.
He stopped the cycle of violence and absolute mayhem.
All was quiet.
And that caused a lot of anxiety.
That caused a lot of tension.
[distant birds chirping]
[K Arkesh] That period of over two years of silence of Veerappan
was always interpreted as a lull before storm.
He's planning something big.
And for that he's preparing.
In one of his camps,
we recovered the translated versions
of Che Guevara's literature.
So we knew a negotiation was going on between Veerappan
and a militant group.
[suspenseful music playing]
[water rushing]
[ex-militant in Tamil] When a government and state media brands someone a criminal,
one needs to look carefully into the reasons
for such crimes to happen.
Was he a criminal by nature or was he made into one?
In Tamil Nadu, Veerappan was known as a brave man, a daredevil, a wizard.
A man who fought against injustice,
but we could understand better when we met him.
When we met Veerappan for the first time,
he felt sad that he couldn't do anything
for the innocent lives that were affected,
and we wanted to give him
some guidance.
We had an organization,
a code, a philosophy.
The Tamil Nadu Liberation Army.
The rights of Tamil people, our language,
our culture and our land were being exploited.
Tamil Nadu Liberation Army fought for a solution to all these issues.
We had some political needs too.
We believed Veerappan's forests could be
the backbone for our movement's operations.
Veerappan was interested and inspired by the idea.
[gripping music playing]
We educated him about the history of several revolutionary movements
and the leaders who led them,
and gave him some books.
Prabhakaran's life history, his fight for a Tamil Nation Eelam…
Che Guevara's history.
Fidel Castro, Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh.
"You should turn into
a leader like them."
He became a changed man.
He wanted to stop all the activities he had done in his life,
and do something new,
something revolutionary.
[K Arkesh in English] We got credible information that he said,
"I will get one man."
"And if I get him,
the Chief Ministers of both the states…"
He meant Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
"…will come on their knees to me."
I told the senior officer,
"Sir, I have all the reasons to believe
that he is planning to kidnap a very important person."
He laughed. He said, "Let him kidnap."
He was so very complacent, light and careless.
He said, "Let him kidnap."
"The government will come to know the importance of STF."
[Sunaad] On the night of the 30th of July, 2000,
Rajkumar had had his dinner along with his wife,
and was just about getting ready to call it a day.
When in walked Veerappan.
With a gun slung across his shoulder.
Whoever was present there were stunned into absolute silence.
[animal howls]
[Sunaad] And within no time,
Veerappan with his most prized catch, Rajkumar,
melted into the darkness that lay beyond the house.
[suspenseful music playing]
[distant sirens wailing]
[S.M. Krishna in Kannada] Last night, around 9:30 p.m.,
Dr. Rajkumar,
post his dinner,
Veerappan and his gang rounded the farmhouse…
[male reporter in English] The Chief Minister announced
that on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m.,
Dr. Rajkumar and three of his associates,
Mr. S.A. Govindaraj, Mr. Nagesh and Mr. Nagappa
were kidnapped from their farmhouse in Tamil Nadu.
[clock ticking]
[Sunaad] Back in Bangalore, the capital city of the state of Karnataka,
news was spreading like wildfire.
Cellular phones and landlines were jammed for close to two to three hours.
And people were completely stranded at airports
and railway stations and bus stations
because the whole city came to a standstill.
We were faced with
one of the most shocking developments in the history of Karnataka.
Because such was the man, Rajkumar…
Karnataka cinema's greatest icon.
[captivating instrumental music playing]
A man who was loved,
respected,
emulated,
and celebrated for decades.
A movie star who was deified by every citizen of Karnataka.
[male reporter] An artist of rare value.
A person of rare discipline.
A man of rare disposition.
This is Rajkumar.
As a saint,
or as a romantic hero,
he is unparalleled.
[Sunaad] The characters that he essayed…
[in Kannada] Mother.
[Sunaad in English] …the roles that he played,
were so full of decency and honesty.
He was a cultural ambassador of Karnataka.
Known for his moral probity both on and off the screen.
The release of a Rajkumar film in Karnataka
was a moment of absolute rejoicing and celebration.
Clamoring for tickets.
The atmosphere in front of the theaters.
The huge crowds milling around.
And the sheer indescribable joy of finally getting into the theaters,
and taking your seat, and having Rajkumar come alive on screen.
[captivating music builds up and fades]
To think such a man
was a hapless, helpless victim
of a diabolical, Tamil-speaking brigand like Veerappan
was simply unacceptable
to every single person in Karnataka.
[suspenseful music playing]
[K Arkesh] The first sentence the Chief Minister said to me is,
"Mr. Arkesh, what is the way out?"
I could see on his face a great amount of pain.
I suggested to him that, with the help of NSG commandos,
National Security Guard commandos,
I can carry out this surgical strike and get Rajkumar released.
He said, "Tell me honestly, what is the risk involved
to the life of Mr. Rajkumar?"
I said, "With whatever precaution that we take,
at least 20% risk is involved to his life in this operation."
He said,
"I can't even take 1% risk with the life of Rajkumar."
-[siren wailing] -[people clamoring]
[female reporter 1] Veerappan carries out his most daring hostage drama.
The state of Karnataka is up in flames
as protests break out.
The air was bristling with hostility.
[indistinct chanting of slogans]
[female reporter 1] There is no getting away from the fact
that it's the lack of political will on both sides of the border
that has resulted in this present hostage crisis.
[Sunaad] The state administration, the police department, the government,
they were all at sea.
[S.M. Krishna] As of now,
government has its own strategy.
Government has, uh, worked out some kind of a strategy…
They were absolutely clueless as to what step they should be taking.
[people clamoring]
[female reporter 2] Numerous incidents of violence have already broken out.
Amidst the tension, educational institutions
have declared a holiday.
Both the governments, they should take immediate action.
They should be released immediately.
So, the government began to tread very cautiously.
And the first thing that it did was to pull back the STF from the area.
[tense music playing]
[female reporter 3] All operations for nabbing Veerappan have been called off.
[Sunaad] Now Veerappan had the upper hand.
He started calling the shots.
And he demanded that an emissary be sent to him immediately.
S.M. Krishna, the Chief Minister of Karnataka at that time,
flew to Chennai,
the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu,
to meet up with the Chief Minister Karunanidhi there.
I have come here with a special request to the honorable Chief Minister
to send the emissary on our behalf.
And to find out what he wants.
[female reporter 4] News coming in from Chennai that RR Gopal,
the editor of the magazine Nakkheeran
has been chosen as the emissary to meet Veerappan.
[imperceptible]
[Sunaad] Nakkheeran Gopal had a kind of familiarity with Veerappan.
He had negotiated the release of nine foresters
who had been abducted by Veerappan a few years earlier.
[in Tamil] We've presented you with a 100% success rate.
I am not trying to boast about it.
[Sunaad in English] A man like Nakkheeran Gopal
would definitely put some sense into Veerappan's head
and convince him that Rajkumar
was too big a personality to be trifled with.
-[suspenseful music playing] -[insects chirping]
[Nagesh in Kannada] It felt like we were sheep being dragged by the noose.
Holding Rajkumar at gunpoint, Veerappan said if someone made a sound,
he'd shoot Rajkumar.
We were terrified.
That time Rajkumar asked,
"You wanted Rajkumar, right?"
"I'll stay, let these three men go."
"Shoot me if you want."
As I had understood it, Veerappan was a very evil man,
a murderer.
We didn't get much sleep because of the fear
that he would do something at any time.
At night, he used to listen to news…
BBC News… He never missed a single piece of news.
It was announced that Nakkheeran would be coming.
[clock ticking]
[female reporter in English] Chief Minister of Karnataka,
S.M. Krishna, confirmed
that Gopal, Editor of Tamil magazine has left on his mission.
[in Tamil] Government has decided to negotiate with Veerappan
to rescue Rajkumar
and they have decided to send our magazine team as the emissaries.
It was raining heavily.
[in Kannada] We were scared all 24 hours of the day.
Lightning strikes.
Rain.
There were thousands of elephants.
Tigers, cheetahs.
[insects chirping]
[Sunaad in English] How would Rajkumar survive in the dense inhospitable terrain?
He was ageing. He was 71 years old.
How will he be able to weather the cold?
[Sivasubramanian in Tamil] It was 15 kilometers inside the forest.
Veerappan was not very casual with us like before.
He was very obstinate.
I spoke to Rajkumar and asked how Veerappan was treating him.
Rajkumar said, "Veerappan behaves
like a small child, and we are kinda friends now."
I asked him, "How?"
He said, "It was raining heavily on the day I was kidnapped."
"On our way, from one hill to another, we crossed a stream."
-[mellow music playing] -[frogs croaking]
"Hundreds of frogs started croaking together in unison."
"It was so idyllic to the ears. Suddenly they would all stop croaking."
"And then one single frog would start again… [mimics frogs croaking]
…and all the other frogs would follow."
"One after the other. All the frogs in unison again."
"Then suddenly stop."
"Listening to the song of those frogs,
I felt that the natural music was more mesmerizing than any symphony."
"Veerappan sat with me and we listened to it for three hours."
"I have never had such a great experience in my life
and it gave me immense pleasure."
[gripping music playing]
The next morning,
Veerappan placed ten demands for releasing Rajkumar.
I rushed back with great confusion.
[K Arkesh in English] Earlier when Veerappan had kidnapped,
he kidnapped forest officials,
he kidnapped photographers and tourists,
thinking that they are important people
and realized that their kidnap yielded him no results.
Because they were very ordinary people.
But with Rajkumar,
Veerappan knew the state Chiefs will come on their knees.
[people cheering]
[female reporter] The brigand has made demands
and has set a deadline for the 19th of this month.
The demands include,
adequate compensation to Tamil victims of the 1991 Cauvery Riots,
fix minimum wages for coffee and tea plantation workers,
and inauguration of the statue
of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore.
[Sunaad] Most of the demands put forward
had an activist tinge to them.
There was a very seriously inclined
Tamil angle to it.
And that was a little irritating.
He has struggled for Kannada, and he's suffering there.
Can't we give our lives to him?
Ask us to go to the forest and kill Veerappan.
If things doesn't come properly in a way
within a day or two, anything can happen.
-[sirens wailing] -[people clamoring]
[Sunaad] There has always been a very simmering tension
between the peoples of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
for hundreds of years,
which was accentuated and exacerbated
by certain political posturings on both sides.
So the issue always existed.
And it was very clear that there was a group of people
who were using Veerappan as their pro-Tamil mouthpiece.
This was, uh, getting to become a little complicated.
[guns firing]
[Maaran in Tamil] When I was in school,
we used to hear about the ethnic cleansing
against Tamils in Sri Lanka in 1983.
This had a widespread impact across Tamil Nadu.
If we want a solution to all these problems,
we will be able to achieve it
through an independent, sovereign Tamil nation.
I cannot go deeper into it,
that's why I am just brushing over the details.
Because if I go into the details,
uh, it will become my confession statement.
[foreboding music playing]
[clock ticking]
[in English] It remains to be seen how soon Dr. Rajkumar
and three other hostages would be released by Veerappan.
The hostage crisis continues with both the governments
of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka refusing to change the strategy
and deciding to send Nakkheeran editor RR Gopal
on a fourth mission to the Sathyamangalam forest.
[female journalist] What is our government doing?
How can they permit this to go on and on like this?
We used to wait endlessly for information.
And then Gopal would come, and he would have this big press conference.
And the entire media would be there.
[imperceptible]
Big story. You can't miss it.
Now he was a journalist like the rest of us.
He had his own magazine.
But he shot to fame.
[imperceptible]
He deserves all credit for taking a risk,
personal risk, personal safety.
But why is it taking so long?
Simple question.
[clock ticking]
[female reporter] It is nearly 50 days since Dr. Rajkumar
and three others were kidnapped by forest brigand Veerappan.
FOR THE RELEASE OF DR. RAJ LET THE CENTRAL GOVT. INTERVENE
[Nakkheeran Gopal in Tamil] We wanted to bring Rajkumar back at any cost.
So we made Veerappan lower his demands and brought him down here,
and we negotiated with the government and got them both on the same page.
I tried my best to explain to him.
[suspenseful music playing]
[statesman] It is Tamil people's issue.
There is high tension in the border for the Tamil people.
It reminded us of the riots that happened in 1992 for the Cauvery River.
[people clamoring]
Tamil people were attacked
and their properties were burnt.
What will happen to the Tamilians if something happens to Rajkumar?
Two months passed by this way.
I felt like something had to be done.
The higher officials asked me,
"Can you help us in any way in bringing back Rajkumar?"
[Sunaad in English] Kolathur Mani was a very powerful man in Tamil Nadu.
He was a big-time landlord.
And a very important Tamil politician.
[Sivasubramanian in Tamil] From 1983 to 1986,
LTTE personnel were trained in his hometown Kolathur.
Many important leaders in LTTE were trained in his fields.
Such was the respect and aura he carried.
We were advised that Kolathur Mani will be able to convince Veerappan
in issues that we couldn't.
We were advised to take Kolathur Mani in.
[Kolathur Mani] Before we went in, we had received a news.
Rajkumar had stopped taking his medications.
What if something happens to a hostage?
That was our biggest fear.
Each day, we'd explain the extent to which the demands
can be met by the government.
They would all sit together and discuss for hours.
Sometimes it took six hours to explain things to them.
I told Veerappan and gang, "Come up with your decisions soon."
"All your requests are related to helping Tamil people."
"Even if something happens to Rajkumar here naturally,
imagine the plight of the Tamil people."
Veerappan asked, "What do you think we should do?"
"Avoid insisting on unachievable demands."
[S.M. Krishna in English] Veerappan has said that we should go
to the International Court of Justice
for settling the Cauvery dispute.
We have said no!
Veerappan said that Tamil should be the second language of Karnataka.
We have said no!
[Sunaad] The fact was
the demands were absolutely preposterous and quite ridiculous.
None of these demands could be met by the government.
Legally, or even realistically.
Except for one demand.
[suspenseful music playing]
[whistle blowing]
[male lawyer] What I'm telling you is not a fiction.
Not a story.
It is a fact.
Here, interested party was Shankar Bidari.
[suspenseful music continues]
The whole situation after Shankar Bidari
entered into the picture in February 1993 was a terror.
Hundreds of accused were arrested
on the allegation that they are supporting Veerappan.
Wives, sisters, brothers, uncle, everyone.
Were they carrying guns?
Were they participating in any crime?
No evidence at all!
Except their confession statement, written by the police
and signed by Shankar Bidari.
He got the permission to invoke the provisions of TADA.
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act.
TADA act.
This is a draconian law only to handle the terrorists
with an intent to overawe the established government.
Unfortunately, it was clamped on these village people. [chuckles]
TADA!
The helplessness of them…
Real helplessness.
All these people were languishing in the jail.
No hopes of completing trial in the near future.
Keeping them in jail for ten years.
But when Rajkumar was kidnapped,
Veerappan put one of the demand
that, "All the innocent people
who are languishing in jail in my name
must be released."
And look at the fate.
All of a sudden, government has become very active.
They were exploring how these persons can be released from the jail.
[Sunaad] It was very clear that the Karnataka Government
was falling backwards to get out of this mess.
They wouldn't have cared less if even the detainees had been released.
So Veerappan made this demand, and the government said, "Yes."
[S.M. Krishna] Both the governments have agreed to pursue
the detainees' release on bail.
[camera shutter clicking]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] If this demand is met by the government,
Rajkumar may be released in a day or two.
[indistinct chatter]
[Sunaad] Everybody connected with the Rajkumar kidnap.
They were all absolutely excited, and happy, and relieved
that Rajkumar would walk out free.
Tomorrow he'll be released. Tomorrow.
Mysore people is very happy.
-[mellow music playing] -[indistinct chatter]
[Nagesh in Kannada] We were happy when the news of their release first came out.
All the men with Veerappan told us that we were being released the next day.
That they would send Nakkheeran and we would be let go.
They said, "We don't have more problems."
"We don't have any other demands."
"That was the only main demand."
-[leaves rustling] -[birds chirping]
That day, everyone was happy and in a jolly mood.
We thought, "Oh, this problem is ending."
"We'll finally go back. There won't be any problems anymore."
[in Tamil] They were happy that they are going to be released in a day or two.
Veerappan too was happy.
[Nagesh in Kannada] Veerappan brought some water in a plate.
He brought some sugar and leaves.
And squeezed out its juice.
When few drops of juice fell on the plate, it became like a cake in ten minutes.
They had discovered miraculous things in the forest.
[mellow music continues]
[Maaran in Tamil] I can never forget that day.
He must have stood at heights of righteous thought.
It was a rare and precious moment.
[in Kannada] Veerappan never slept next to the people he had kidnapped.
But he started sleeping next to us.
[mellow music continues]
[Venugopal in Hindi] But here is a twist in the tale.
[in English] One Shri Abdul Karim
whose son was Shakeel Ahmed, the Sub Inspector of MM Hills police,
all of a sudden, went to Supreme Court, filed an appeal,
"I lost my son because of these accused persons."
"Withdrawal of TADA just to get Rajkumar released?"
"This method of the government is illegal act."
"So it must be quashed and immediately must be stayed."
[tense music playing]
[male lawyer] The withdrawal of the cases from the offenders
was being made under the pressure of a brigand, a rogue, a dacoit.
Such things will not be allowed in this country.
[Nagesh in Kannada] TADA prisoners have been locked.
The Supreme Court has ordered that they won't be released.
They won't be released.
[man in English] They are impatient,
what do you have to say to the people of Karnataka?
People of Karnataka are losing faith, they're losing hope.
Now we want… What is the total outcome of this meeting?
[camera shutters clicking]
[indistinct chatter]
[tense music continues]
[Nagesh in Kannada] His behavior changed completely.
He couldn't control his anger then.
However happy he had been, his demeanor changed that much.
He stood up immediately.
"Doesn't it matter if something happens to Rajkumar?"
He had never said such words until then.
His whole gang started saying,
"Shoot one of them."
"Like the Taliban hijacked flights."
"Let's do something similar to that."
"Let's shoot one of the four and send them."
[K Arkesh in English] Nagappa was a hostage with Dr. Rajkumar.
When Veerappan said,
"The government will listen only when I kill one among the captives,"
Nagappa heard this.
He calculated who that one person could be.
It's not Rajkumar. It is not his son-in-law.
And the least important person in the whole hierarchy was Nagappa.
So Nagappa was preparing himself for death.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Nagesh in Kannada] Everyone was asleep.
There was always a sickle lying around.
Nagappa picked that up.
He walked past Rajkumar and everyone else.
[distant animals screeching]
He walked inside the tent
and raised the sickle to attack.
He swung the sickle at Veerappan.
Veerappan caught him.
We woke up. It was so dark we couldn't see anything.
[in Tamil] Veerappan saw the gashes on his hand, he got furious.
He immediately asked them to tie up Nagappa.
[Nagesh in Kannada] Nagappa started yelling.
Veerappan said, "Don't scream."
Nobody had hit Veerappan or made him bleed ever in his entire life.
[Kolathur Mani in Tamil] Veerappan was yelling
that he should not have treated them well and killed them all long back.
[Nagesh in Kannada] At that time,
Nagappa's hands were tied and he kept crying for water.
Nakkheeran untied the knots.
He untied them as we were watching.
[Kolathur Mani in Tamil] From the top of the hill, he could spot a town.
He followed those lights until he reached the roads.
This is how Nagappa escaped.
[in Kannada] I thought
we are doomed.
Bring him here. This side.
Immediately, here.
[indistinct chatter]
[camera shutters clicking]
[officer in English] He is reported to have assaulted Veerappan with a sickle.
If his statement that he has attacked Veerappan is true,
then I should think that the problem has become slightly complicated.
[K Arkesh] Rajkumar's family members were very unhappy.
They thought Nagappa came back running,
putting the life of Rajkumar into a great danger.
[Sivasubramanian in Tamil] We can never predict Veerappan's mindset.
We told the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, "The situation is very tense."
"He is someone who is capable of killing people without thinking much."
"So please expedite the process."
[clock ticking]
[foreboding music playing]
[Sunaad in English] Nagappa's escape from the clutches of Veerappan
was a very bad development.
Veerappan had to be placated.
Air had to be cleared.
There was no news forthcoming from the jungle.
There was an eerie lull.
And then Veerappan demanded for the most high profile
Tamil nationalist Nedumaran to be his new emissary.
[male reporter] The Rajkumar hostage crisis
has brought this former Congress man
and Tamil separatist leader into the spotlight.
The politician may now enjoy his moment in the sun,
but whether he'll be able to achieve the tall order
will be put to the test in time to come.
[in Tamil] Sivasubramanian and I went there on motorcycles.
Nedumaran went in his own Sumo car.
His car had a sticker that said "Tamil Chariot."
When they saw Nedumaran, Rajkumar had a big boost of confidence.
Nedumaran sir dealt the discussion very well.
I was able to see his political expertise.
Nedumaran said something.
"A free Tamil nation is everyone's dream."
"No disagreements there."
"But you cannot achieve it with a single kidnapping."
[pensive music playing]
"You expected too much."
"On the brighter side, these demands are now famous."
"Nobody was talking about the demands,
but now they will talk about it and write about it."
Nedumaran said, "That is a small victory,
but don't expect all your demands to be met."
He convinced all of them. And they all got convinced.
Veerappan then took me aside to speak with me privately.
That is when he told me about the ransom they had gotten already.
[Sivasubramanian] When we would come out of the Secretariat Office,
the reporters would ask us, "How much money did Veerappan ask for?"
We lied, saying we wouldn't have gotten involved if it was about money.
Along with the ten demands,
Veerappan also made another eleventh demand.
"I need 1000 crores," said Veerappan.
We weren't able to imagine 1000 crores.
He gave a very simple explanation for it.
He said, "I only need 100 crores in cash. Give me gold bars for the rest."
He even said those gold bars should be molten together
into a huge ball and brought to him in a truck.
After negotiation, he came down to 100 crores.
We said, "100 crores is not possible at all."
[camera shutter clicking]
[female reporter in English] Reports coming in indicate that crores of rupees
allegedly exchanged hands as ransom.
A charge that Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Rajkumar's family have denied.
Untrue.
I would like to make this very clear.
[Kolathur Mani in Tamil] I heard the amount was ten crores.
[in English] It's unfortunate the state had to indulge
in that kind of a situation.
A sovereign state,
uh, indulging in this kind of a money deal with a brigand.
It's a very, very painful thing.
Ultimately it was money which mattered.
No cause for Tamil mattered.
What ultimately mattered was money.
The money spoke.
[in Tamil] I read in the newspaper that Veerappan
had so many demands.
His wife was in police custody. He did not place a demand
for the government to show his wife and child.
If he had made that demand, it would have happened.
-[wind whistling] -[bells jingling]
For about eight years, I was in police custody.
I knew no one else apart from them.
I knew no one. I couldn't go anywhere. I couldn't go talk to anyone.
There was no other way, but to ask for their help.
For eight years I was holding this hope
that my husband will not let go of me.
I thought he would have found my parents
and asked where I was, what I was doing.
My mother said, "No, dear. He didn't come."
"He never came asking about you."
He was angry and hell-bent on not seeing me.
He thought that I was with the police.
He had a deep-rooted notion that his wife
had turned into a friend of the police.
The Tamil nationalists, they tried to reason with him.
"The fault is not hers."
"She is facing the punishment for your actions."
"You have to change your mind."
"Call her and talk to her."
Only after that, he decided to meet us.
[insects chirping]
Our daughter and I were standing a few feet away.
[chuckling] Vidhya got scared seeing her father's mustache.
She never went close.
It was dark and there was no visibility.
As soon as she saw him, she got so scared.
-[solemn music playing] -[fire crackling]
A bonfire was lit at the base of the hills.
Finally, he spoke to me when he offered a biscuit.
He gave one to me and the kid.
"You took the side of the police, right?"
I said, "You have misunderstood me."
"I will never backstab you."
I told him, crying.
"It has been so many years,
you didn't bother about me."
"You didn't bother to check on me."
"You didn't care about me."
"Did you even think about it?"
He felt very bad after that.
The next morning, Vidhya was still hesitating to go near him.
But she was very eager to talk to him.
That is the first time she called her father, "Father."
We sat around him as he was speaking.
Our daughter went and slept on his lap.
That seemed to have touched him.
That is when he felt love
towards his child.
He realized that he had made a mistake.
[solemn music continues]
[Maaran] These meetings changed his mind
and created new thoughts in him.
He openly shared some information with me.
"I want a quiet and peaceful life with my family."
These sorts of thoughts will be a setback
in the life of a revolutionary fighter.
That change of mind forced us
to end our relationship with him.
He clenched his hands to convey the difficult situation he was in.
It felt like he was crushing my heart.
I felt like I was deserting him,
and wondered how his life would turn out.
A great fighter,
the one who voiced out loud for the rights
and the one who protected the borders.
Did the society just lose one of its bravest warriors?
It was a very sad and depressing day.
We found something different about Rajkumar.
But couldn't put a finger on what it was.
That's when Veerappan told us about the hair dye he had prepared for Rajkumar.
He wanted Rajkumar to look like a bridegroom when he's released.
Rajkumar put a pendant on Veerappan.
"No harm shall fall upon you," he said,
and put sacred ash on Veerappan's forehead.
[chuckling] They both hugged and cried after that.
[pleasant music playing]
[Nagesh in Kannada] As soon as we came back, it felt like heaven.
"Did we come back?"
"What happened there? Did we really come back?"
All we had in mind was,
"Have we come back?"
I can never forget that time.
[S.M. Krishna] Now a little while ago,
Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister informed me
that Dr. Rajkumar and Nagesh
-were set free from the abductors. -[people banging on tables]
-[pleasant music continues] -[people cheering]
[Sunaad in English] The long-awaited day of Rajkumar's release dawned on us.
[crowd cheering]
It was the most ecstatic and celebratory event in recent times.
Rajkumar was finally back on Karnataka's soil.
And all was well.
[pleasant music continues]
[people cheering]
[imperceptible]
[Interviewer] And what happened to Veerappan?
[Sunaad] He escaped like he always would
into the depths of some unknown jungle.
And there was a sense of fatigue in all this.
For the government,
the STF,
the whole of India.
The entire might of the state administration
was hell-bent on putting an end to Veerappan and his regime.
[foreboding music playing]
They would move heaven and earth to see Veerappan's end.
[gun cocks]
[mellow music playing]
[Veerappan over recording in Tamil] Well… [clears throat] To my dear wife,
filled with love and affection.
I heard the cassette you sent me.
Whenever you send me cassettes,
if you are sending multiple cassettes for example,
label them as one, two, three, etc.
The cassettes you sent now weren't numbered,
so I listened to it in the wrong order and got confused.
Don't do that.
I have labelled the cassette to be given to you as "Mu."
"Mu" for Muthu, your name.
It is meant for you.
Muthu, this is for you.
What you said is right. No questions about that.
Don't be disappointed with me.
I live and earn only for you and my two darling daughters.
What will I do with the money if not provide for you?
Our Vidhya had also spoken in it.
She'd said she was eager to meet me.
I am so eager to see my daughter.
I am hoping we see the day where our kids drive us around in our car.
And both of us should sit in the backseat. And our enemies should see it.
That is my wish.
I've weighed the entire world. I just happen to be in the forest today.
But please be careful.
The demon bastards will keep a closer watch on you.
We aren't idling here. We are doing all the necessary work required.
I am putting together the weapons and men needed for it.
I've been eagerly waiting
for some bigger weapons.
We will soon leave the country.
It will happen soon.
The plan is in motion for that.