The unimaginable 50 second Ai teaser - An exclusive sneak peek

Ever since the recent announcement about Shankar - Chiyaan Vikram's Ai being a Diwali release, the film has shot back into the limelight in a big way. The producer Aascar Films Ravichandran also revealed his grand plans to launch the audio in Chennai and Hyderabad in the month of September, with the likes of Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger in attendance.

 

This being the case, a few of us at Behindwoods recently met the maverick producer for an extensive interaction and also joined the lucky select few to get a glimpse at the 50 seconds rough cut teaser. This teaser carried a 'dummy music score' and not Rahman's, it must be noted. Ravichandran reiterated that the Vikram which we were going to see was a result of extensive make-up and not computer generated imagery by any means. What we saw left us speechless and absolutely stunned! 

 

The teaser packs visuals of Vikram in various makeovers 

 

- as a cool and handsome dude romancing Amy Jackson in exotic visuals in typical Shankar style.

 

- as an intense body builder sporting a fabulous physique and a thick moustache

 

- as a growling beastly creature (werewolf / gorilla-man) with hair all over the body, wild teeth and horns above. The presence of Vikram in this make-over is really intriguing and one wonders if this is just for a dream song sequence or for some actual scenes too.

 

- as a deformed, crippled person (sporting a hood) with a heavily disfigured face and limbs, due to some sort of allergic skin reaction. Seeing Vikram in this avatar, the 1980 Hollywood movie 'Elephant Man' might come to mind for those who have seen it.

 

It took some time for us to fathom what we saw and we asked for a repeat of the teaser, which the producer happily obliged. The visuals of Vikram first working out in a room packed with mirrors and then standing in the same room in the aforementioned disfigured, crippled form, gives us a little idea of the film's plot.

 

The action sequences are grand and along the lines of what Shankar has envisaged in his glorious career till date. The exotic locations and the visual of Vikram riding a bike which keeps 'transforming', again screams SHANKAR and his brand of grandeur.

 

Anyone who sees this remarkably impactful teaser would keep rewinding what he / she saw, to relive the experience over and over again. If a rough 50 second teaser could leave such a long-lasting impact, what will the actual movie result in? The prospects are endless.

 

Shankar, Aascar Films, Chiyaan Vikram and the whole crew have taken a major step to take Indian cinema to the next level and make the world stop and take notice of our movie industry. Ravichandran's pride and satisfaction at Shankar's end product seems totally justified.