VISITOR COLUMN

After nearly 3 years, director Shankar returns with another high profile magnum opus. Bankrolled by Aascar Ravichandran, ‘I’ has been making waves the moment it was launched all the way back in 2012 and also due to Vikram’s dedication in pulling off distinct roles in the film.

‘I’ is about an enthusiastic body-builder, Lingesan a.k.a Lee played by Vikram who falls in love with a supermodel Diya played by Amy Jackson and his subsequent foray into the modeling world which leads to a series of events, eventually affecting the protagonist.

Vikram is definitely the star attraction here in ‘I’. He pulled off the bodybuilder, supermodel and the hunchback roles with sheer finesse, with his dedication towards the characters was very much evident on-screen. Amy Jackson played her role as a supermodel with absolute ease, as she was a model prior to joining the film industry. She looked stunningly beautiful, especially in Indian outfits. Apart from the lead pair, Santhanam as Lingesan’s sidekick Gym Babu impressed with his rib-tickling one-liners, notably the sequences with Powerstar. The negative quartet of Suresh Gopi, Upen Patel, Ramkumar Ganesan and Ojha Rajani were impressive, with the suave Suresh and Upen standing out.

Shankar’s films have always been technically strong and ‘I’ is no exception to that. The key man here is definitely P.C. Sreeram. His camera work was outstanding The spellbinding locales of China were canned in a manner where viewers would be captivated with the shots. Another important personnel here is surely A.R.Rahman. His songs became a rage upon release earlier and his background score was just too perfect, complementing each and every frame. An Oscar-worthy product. Grand sets are important components of a Shankar film. This time, T.Muthuraj created wonders in the art department. Weta Workshop, known for their work in the Lord of the Rings series were responsible for the top-class special effects while Rising Sun Pictures produced high-quality visual effects. The 3 hour, 5 minute movie did not drag at any point, thanks to editor Anthony’s expertise. Anal Arasu and Peter Ming were responsible for the action sequences, which were done well.

‘I’ is a complete audio-visual treat from Shankar. The concept isn’t a novel one, but Shankar made it look different. A world-class attempt by the ace director as he presented a revenge-laced romantic thriller in his unique style.

Verdict: 4/5 . ‘I’ is not just a world-class attempt...athukkum mele!