Movie Review: I |
| Movie I |
Director: Shankar
Cast: Vikram , Amy Jackson, Suresh Gopi, Upen Patel, Santhanam, Ramkumar Ganesan and Ojas M. Rajani
Shankar has always shown a penchant for the extraordinary, as seen in past ventures such as Indian and Robot, something the Hindi viewers would be more familiar with. Here he combines the familiar fairytale of Beauty And The Beast with elements of revenge and redemption to make a roller coaster visual treat designed to enthrall your senses. For example, Amy Jackson morphs into a mobile, a bike and a sprout during a song… and later during the revenge portions, the special effects and makeup are out of this world.
Lingesan (Vikram) is an avid bodybuilder living in a Chennai chawl and is obsessed with winning the Mr India title. He also has a huge crush on supermodel Diya (Amy Jackson) and buys every product she endorses, even sanitary pads… She’s been the object of the reigning male model John’s (Upen Patel) unsavoury attention and used Lingesan as a foil to counter the unwanted overtures. She gives him a makeover with transgender stylist Ojas’s (Ojas Rajani) help and the duo look all set to be heading towards a fairlytale romance, till events spiral out of hands and life turns topsy turvy for all concened.
Vikram shines in every frame of the film. He has put in a lot of effort for the role – he bulked up for the bodybuilder’s part, became leaner to be the model and then lost more weight for the hunchback part. His dedication for the project is admirable and he carries the film on his shoulders. Amy Jackson looks like a million bucks but doesn’t really pull her weight in the acting department. The rest of the cast chip in their bits, even Upen Patel…
The songs, composed by AR Rahman go for a toss in the Hindi version because of the atrocious lyrics. P.C. Sreeram continues to dazzle with his exemplary camerawork, the China portions especially look like picture post cards. The special effects filmography by New Zealand based Weta Workshop add to the visual appeal of the film. The make-up department needs to be applauded as well for all the effects created.
Shankar balances a social critique along with technical gimmickry and here the message centres about our obsession with physical perfection and beauty. Vikram’s transformation from a man in prime physical shape to a boil-covered hunchback is truly grotesque, as are the rest of the changes in the film. The big bugbear for the film remains its run time of 3 hours and ten minutes. Hopefully, the technical wizardry will be enough to make the audience forgive this lapse …
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