From stories of lost children to government officials and a slain forest brigand – Kannada filmmakers take inspiration in real tales

True stories have quite the appeal for filmmakers across the globe. While Hollywood churns out quite a few real-life tales every year, back home in Sandalwood, they are still few and far between, but those that do get cinematic versions, have left a mark. In fact, rumour has it that even the Sandalwood Drug Scandal may get a filmi version in the biopic of one of the actresses who has been accused. While there have been quite a few underworld tales with real-life inspirations – Om, Aa Dinagalu, Bettanagare, Deadly Soma, Bheema Theeradalli, Edegarike, among others – here’s a look at a few other recent true stories that made the cut.

The Kannada film, directed by Lohith M, had Priyanka Upendra in the lead. It also starred the actress’ daughter Aishwarya and actor Kishore in pivotal roles. The thriller, set in Kolkata, was adapted from a real-life story involving a family who lost their children and dwelt on child kidnapping and trafficking.

The film directed by Raghuram, had Gurunandan in the title role, in a story that recreates the real-life tale of Jonathan Frosman, the Swedish national who came to India, Hubballi to be precise, to track his biological parents. Missing Boy was based on a documentary by the same name.

Although the makers of the film repeatedly denied any resemblance to or inspiration from the story of deceased Karnataka IAS officer DK Ravi, it is widely believed to be a retelling of real events. In fact, the late officer’s parents had even sought a ban on the film’s release. Directed by Jacob Varghese, the film had Sathish Ninasam in the lead role.

Killing Veerappan was filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s version of the events events leading to Operation Cocoon to capture or kill Indian forest brigand Veerappan. The film had Shivarajkumar in the central role touted to be based on NK Senthamarai Kannan, the then Superintendent of police, with the Indian Special Task Force, and the spy who masterminded Operation Cocoon. Sandeep Bhardwaj played Veerappan in the film.

Pooja Gandhi starred as the main lead in this film, which is believed to be based on the tragic tale of actress Kalpana, who was often referred to as Minugu Taare. She died, aged 35, after consuming sleeping pills. The film, directed by Sathish Pradhan, also starred, Makarand Deshpande, Srinagar Kitty, Atul Kulkarni and P Ravi Shankar, among others.

Directed by Priya Belliappa with an all-women crew, this film explored the tale of the infamous murder of a software engineer by his fiancée and her boyfriend on Bengaluru’s Ring Road. It starred Altmash Shakreen in the lead role. The supporting cast included Nikita Thukral, Duniya Vijay, Avinash, Malavika Avinash, Patre Ajith, Shrunga BV and Sagar Puranik.

The AMR Ramesh directorial was a Kannada/Tamil bilingual on the life and times of slain forest brigand Veerappan. While actor Kishore played Veerappan, the film also had Suresh Oberoi as late matinee idol Rajkumar, apart from Arjun Sarja and others in pivotal roles. The filmmaker is currently revisiting the subject with Kishore again as a web series.

Directed by Srinivasa Raju, Dandupalya is series of films that explored the exploits of a notorious gang of called Dandupalya, which was active between 1996 and 2001 and responsible for several murders, rapes and robberies in Bengaluru. The film had Pooja Gandhi, Makarand Deshpande and Ravi Kale, among others in pivotal roles.