Page - 41 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

Validating Demons | 41www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 31–53 context. Film scholar Selvaraj Velayutham points out that in Tamil movies it is common to conceive India from the perspective of a Tamil male, and films are set in Tamil Nadu even if the locations are fictional.36 Part of the movie was shot in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu in South India. Bīrā’s character seems to be partially based on the life of Koose Mu- niswamy Veerappan (1952–2004), a poor uneducated Tamil man who was born in Karnataka near the border with Tamil Nadu. He knew the jungles of South India very well and became involved in poaching and in smuggling sandalwood. According to the chronicles of an agent of the Tamil Nadu Spe- cial Task Force, Veerappan was popular amongst the locals, and a sort of Robin Hood legend developed around him. Veerappan defied the police, kid- napped people, and could not be apprehended for a long time. He was a gen- erous employer in an area in which many were unemployed, and his story captured the imagination.37 The idea of the forest criminal who confronted the police and was appreciated by the people resonates strongly. Studies elaborate on the “Robin Hood principle”, in which outlaws, ei- ther fictional or real, become celebrated heroes and their stories are told in songs, films, and literature in many cultures. Graham Seal claims there is a scripted narrative of the bandit hero: the outlaw suffers injustice, typical- ly from government or local power, winning the sympathy of a resistance community as his bad acts are justified. He never harms women, distrib- utes benefits amongst the poor, escapes from authority, and eventually dies bravely.38 The commemorated outlaws often appear in contexts in which a group of people consider themselves to be the victims of injustice and there- fore there is sympathy for the resistance of the bandit.39 As one can clearly see, in Ratnam’s movie Rāvaṇa fits this framework well. He is validated because life has been unfair, and he opposes the cor- rupt police.40 In the film, the people of the villages bow in front of Bīrā; everyone wants to meet him. He embraces the children tenderly, and many follow him. He is also shown playing with the little ones in a pond. In the jungle where Bīrā lives, there is talk about his virtues and the good things 36 Velayutham 2008, 8. 37 Vijay Kumar 2017, 18–20. 38 Seal 2009, 74–75. 39 Seal 2009, 83. 40 It is interesting to note that Veerappan is also used to illustrate the acclaimed outlaw in Seal’s own work.