The documentary series ‘The Hunt For Veerappan’ started streaming on Netflix last week and since then, the show has been trending big time, even globally, and has got unanimously positive feedback from audiences and critics. The series follows the story of the feared and ruthless smuggler Veerappan, who ruled the dense jungles located in South India and how he became the focal point of India’s longest manhunt.
So, what can Netflix do now in order to further capitalize on the popularity of the docuseries? For the world to witness the hair-raising story behind the dreaded gangster in a bigger way. For Veerappan to potentially become India’s answer to the American show ‘Narcos’? Here’s how the OTT giant can do it.
Netflix can seriously think about making a full-fledged web series based on the ‘The Hunt For Veerappan’ docuseries itself. Because the life story of Veerappan has the potential to match the blood curdling story of another infamously feared man – Pablo Escobar.
We understand that their stories are obviously different from each other. One is about a dreaded drug lord and the other one is about a ruthless dacoit. But the common thing between them is how both of these elusive, strong-willed, extremely dangerous and volatile people escaped the wrath of the authorities for a long period of time. And how finally they were painstakingly caught by the authorities after years of desperate efforts and meticulous planning.
So, if Netflix can somehow make a six-part or eight-part web series on Veerappan, preferably based on its ‘The Hunt for Veerappan’ docuseries itself, the show would have the potential to reach the level of Narcos globally. And it’s not that previously a documentary has never become an inspiration for films, especially in Hollywood. It has happened before multiple times.
Earlier, several Hollywood filmmakers have made some feature films which were actually based on or inspired from an existing documentary film. For instance, ‘Forrest Gump’ helmer Robert Zemeckis had directed a critically acclaimed film titled ‘The Walk’. It was inspired by the award-winning documentary ‘Man on Wire’, which was based on the real-life story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit and his walk between the Twin Towers.
There was another film titled ‘Milk’ starring Sean Penn in the titular role of activist-politician Harvey Milk and it was released in 2008. The movie was inspired from the 1984 documentary ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’.
Earlier, Veerappan has been the subject matter of several films and series such as the 1991 Kannada film ‘Veerappan’, the 2012 movie ‘Attahasa’, and Ram Gopal Varma’s 2016 movie ‘Killing Veerappan’, amongst others. But probably, none of them had a big scale impact on the audiences, especially among international viewers.
‘The Hunt For Veerappan’ is a terrific and detailed documentary on Veerappan and if Netflix can turn it into a scaled-up web series, it has the potential to compete with the likes of ‘Narcos’. And now is the perfect time to do that! Netflix, the ball is in your court now!
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
