After making a Kannada film on notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma was toying with the idea of making a movie on him in Hindi for a larger audience. To ensure that he did justice to it, he did extensive research on the Bandipur forest brigand. During the course of it, the director learnt many unknown facts about him. To maintain authenticity, he also shot the film, Veerappan, in the jungles of Mysore. Since most of this information came from the police teams who were involved in the dacoit's encounter, RGV has decided them to show them the movie first, even before it releases in cinemas. The thriller features Sandeep Bhardwaj as the protagonist while Usha Jadhav, Lisa Ray and Sachiin Joshi, who is also the film's producer, will be seen in pivotal roles.

Veerappan, produced by Viiking Media & Entertainment, releases on May 27.