Vikram: A Meta Fanboy Letter

Vikram Review

Star Cast: Kamal Haasan, Fahadh Faasil, Vijay Sethupathi, Santhana Bharathi, Suriya, Arjun Das, and Naren.
Music Composed by Anirudh Ravichandran
Written by Ratnakumar, Lokesh Kanagaraj
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj

Well, this is in the spoilers zone. If you want a non-spoiler one then, watch the movie, please. Worth your time. Now, let’s get into the action, “Arambikalangala“…

Kamal Haasan doesn’t need an introduction and if you need one to identify him then never call yourself a cinephile again. Fahad Fassil and Vijay Sethupathi have come together and then there is Rolex, Suriya. Lokesh Kanagaraj is ambitious and delirious at the same time. He wants to climb up to the skies while his writing has some limitations. Not that he is not imaginative or less original. He is swaggy, Massy gets actors into characters, and designs unique looks, like it or not he has his own vision. But why delirious and ambitious, his acute vision is disturbed by trying to join some disjoint events. If he is trying to focus on giving meta tribute and then also wants to have a proper action-oriented genre film, he is walking on a thin rope. While he delivers mostly, he also drags the portions to the hilt at places. Had he just been able to control himself in over-writing some stuff, he might just be an unstoppable force in constructing action blockbusters.

Vikram is not a bad film by any stretch. And stretching is the main problem of feeling undermined by a visionary director’s own ambition. Still, this movie is Watchable for all the highs it gives. Just the lows that it delivers should have been in check. In a story where Arjun’s son Brabruvahana needs to find Krishna for ultimate guidance, you cannot expect Krishna to be in trouble himself.

Brabruvahana never got the fatherly love that he deserves and avenged war on his father. But then it is Krishna who helped him understand what his father’s real responsibilities were. Krishna brought them close together and Brabruvahana made his father proud. Amar (Fahadh) might just find a fatherly figure in Krishna aka Agent Vikram in the next outings. If Rolex is going to be nabbed by Kamal then he needs all the help he can get. Amar aka Fahadh is not going to sit silent and he won’t.

Dilli from Khaidi might also add to the equation. But this to come true, Lokesh needs to find a balance between underwriting and overwriting. He did underwriting for the Sandhanam (Vijay) role and overwritten Kamal’s portion before the climax. Lokesh might have taken inspiration from The Dark Knight trilogy and Christ Resurrection theories. He seems to have christened a funny Agent Vikram to make him the Godly Ghost in this newer version. He is bruised by the system as they disown him after one failure and he says no one will talk about his successes and he wants to be remembered for one big success and one only.

On the other hand, people who join him give priority to vengeance. This is what Amar needs to channelise in the next portions. Delightfully he might too. Also, Kamal’s character can be equated to Krishna because he is mystic and human too. He can pull off anything, can resurrect, and can change the course of action but he definitely needs more nuanced writing than just action blocks storytelling. Anirudh Ravichander just scored his heart out as if his life depended on it. His BG score elevated some slow portions too. Fahad Fassil with his body language and impeccable style made investigative portions completely his own and his scenes with Kamal will have a separate fan base for sure. It is Vijay Sethupathi who is underwritten and he performed well though. Lokesh depended on the actor to carry them off than helping him out. Kamal Haasan just feels like he walked out of his best works in this film. His swag in action scenes and his look in the second half need big nods. If you miss Suriya, you miss his mass best in a decade. Even if it is 5 minutes, he owns the moments.

Girish Gangadharan visuals need a special thread in themselves. In a dark moody thriller like this, you don’t expect a Cinematographer to light brightly and yet you need to make out what is happening on screen like you are a hawk. His eagle eye shots, drones, angles using small corners everything adds to the mythical dark verse that Lokesh envisioned. You can make out every blow being hit and every hit can be heard, felt too. Anbuarivu did their sleeky best.

On the whole, this movie doesn’t feel like someone who wrote it on their laptop today. It is made by a person who envisioned something like this for years. Lokesh envisioned this kind of universe where baddies are greedy and heroes fail to achieve everything. Still, they find a way to win, and like life, they survive to battle another day. If a new threat arises, you won’t run away from life, you face it. You try to survive or succumb. Lokesh desires such a universe where systematically top players arrive into it and the toughest situations present themselves to make a Ghost come alive, a prisoner of his own guilt father finds his own way to correct everything. If Dilli did everything in his power to wash out his sins to reach his daughter then Vikram had to blow out his cover to create safe heaven. In a world where Nammavar says, “Sorry, I am lecturing“, is a world possible only in the Guilt-ridden father verse of Lokesh Kanagaraj. Now, just waiting for him to give Suriya some menacing stuff to make him a delightful villain. No, redemption stuff for him, please. Kamal Haasan and Suriya going head to head will be a blast to watch. Just want Lokesh to write in perfect lengths rather than going bowling huge spinners on a fast pitch that helps fast-paced arm balls.