'I' is not for 'U'

'I' IS NOT FOR 'U'!

Cast: 'Chiyaan' Vikram - Limgesan. Amy Jackson - Diya, Suresh Gopi - Dr, Santhanam - Gym Babu, Ramkumar Ganesan & Others

Crew: Music: A.R.Rahman, D.O.P: P.C.Sriram, Edit: Anthony

Producers: Viswanathan Ravichandran & D.Ramesh Babu

Running Time: 189 mins

'I' is not meant for an 'U'niversal audience - It is primarily a film which will immensely please 'Chiyaan' Vikram's fans & those who love watching fairy tales made for adults! Look! Just because Shankar supposedly always does something different every time & Vikram is a talented, hard working actor the discerning viewer should not be subjected to a 3 hour 9 min rehash of  'Anniyan' which drags on and on testing our patience beyond tolerable limits. The film is all about the protagonist Lingesan (Vikram) who is a body builder from the slums of Chennai whose sole ambition is to win the Mr.Madras and subsequently Mr.India crown. Shanker's fairy tale starts of as a revenge saga (eye for an eye) in this case bubble for a bubble! & then moves on to an insipid, bland romantic saga with Diya (Amy Jackson) with Noorjahan (Amy Jackson) building a Taj mahal for Lingesan! A climax which simply fails on all fronts. Shankar manages to sneak in the usual quota of baddies (villains) in this case 5 (Ramkumar Ganesan & Co)  in all. The latter 4 start of us serious contenders and finally reduced to buffoons by the end of the film. The main baddie's(Mr. X let me atleast try to keep some interest going)intentions are revealed in the early part of the first half itself as the director turns into a turncoat (spoiler) in his own film! The director has also added a comedy track in Gym Babu (Santhanam) with a 'Kosuru' (bit) in Powerstar! Santhanam does bring some respite with his comedy but once again in bits and pieces. Vulgarity and double meaning dialogues has been used extensively to garner laughs! So what has Shankar done different in I! In my opinion precious little. Profuse usage of prosthetic make up to transform Vikram iuto a hunchback who by the way is a medical marvel as he is so agile that he even takes on one of the baddies on top of a running train. He runs, leaps, jumps and doses stunts which would make Jackie Chan jump with joy! Fairy tale picture post card song and dance sequences. Amy jackson stripped almost bare literally to her 'nipples'! I really wonder whether the censor members went to sleep while watching these scenes or were they consumed by sheer joy and excitement while watching these scenes! Well whatever director Shankar has exploited Amy Jackson's talent on all fronts! We also have a Beauty and the Beast song sequence with Vikram growling and roaring as he chases Amy all over as the fairies lift Amy and fly around. Boy! Real fairy tale stuff that Hans Christian Andersen would have loved to watch! Or would he have? Finally we have the 'I' virus probably Shankar's invention. A virus when injected makes you look like a hairless, hunch back with a body filled with bubbles and blisters. Wow! A request to Shankar not to reveal the 'I' formula to Jihadis and terrorists!They will have a field day with the 'I'. Luckily in this film Shankar has used it only on the baddies. So we are all spared as of now from the spread of 'I'! Hope all the theatres have been insulated from this virus spreading while watching this film! 

Shankar also has a few out of the world stunts lined up for the viewers 1. Mini cycle fights on roof tops in China 2. Vikram breaks all weight lifting records by lifting two baddies (instead of the usual weights) as he swings it around knocking dozens of baddies who foolishly come in the way! 3. Aerial fight scenes which will make circus trapeze artists stare in awe. 4. Moving train fight scene - Hunchback vs a Baddie. 

For colour and extravagant usage of Aascar Ravichandran's (producer) money - 1. Contract with a paint company to paint and repaint villages, cities and even countries if needed. 2. Computer graphics should be used to make Amy Jackson into a female transformer robot (After all the 'Enthiran' hangover still exists) and finally off to China to show the viewers the grandeur of a valley of red flowers and serene lakes! This footage could always be used by China tourism or the National geographic channel.

Finally the climax - The Beauty & the Beast dance away into the sunset!

Acting: Vikram all the way! The rest also ran! Though with all the make up Vikram could hardly express and his dubbing sounded like a rehash of Ambi in Anniyan.

Amy Jackson: In this film more a model less an actor.

Ramkumar Ganesan: A far cry to Malaya except for the looks! Shankar makes as a fool of this actor in this film.

Music: Sorry! Not the vintage A.R.Rahman we normally expect!

D.O.P.: Great work! Though the content turns out to be the spoiler!

Edit: Good work. Though should be cut by another 45 mins to make the film watchable.

Bottomline: Weak story line, Content, dialogues! The director has used this film to say that he can simply match or do what Hollywood does! but he has botched badly and this attitude does not augur well for Tamil cinema!

Quote: 'I' is not for 'U' !

My Rating: 2.5/5 minus .5 for wasting an opportunity. Total 2/5

Until Next Time,

Director Haricharan

15/1/2015