About the movie, in a second. Trying to helm star vehicles, particularly involving the aging and the fading ones, is often a thankless and a sisyphic endeavor. The stars in question have faded out (or receded into the background) for a reason - age and relevance being the important ones - and attempting to bring them back into currency and shine a spotlight on them is akin to spit-shining a worn out boot. When a new generation of film makers, who have grown up watching those stars, take the center state replacing their older counterparts, they dream of directing the stars of their childhood fantasies and aspire to be the ONE to resurrect (at least some of) the past glory of the star, not as a personal challenge for themselves but more to also satiate the inner (loud, cheering, hooting, enthusiastic) child in themselves. But again, those stars have faded away for a reason... and so many of these 'new age director - aging star' collaborations (in fact, almost all, with an exception here and there) end up as home videos, starting as homage features, to both the star and the director, which they alone, in the privacy of their homes, can applaud appreaciate, leaving the (aging) fans (who have grown up along with the star) and regular audience cold and plain disinterested. Like the adage, never meet your idol, the film equivalent should follow, resist the urge to make a movie with your idol. The reasons for such failures are pretty obvious. The stars are no longer their spry selves and attempts to varnish over this key fact and let the movie play out, as though stuck in a time warp, with him doing the same things of the yore, expecting the same adulation is, to put mildly, a tad optimistic. But once in a while though, when the right maker comes along, who understands not just (fading) power of the star but also the (stark) ground reality, that the star himself could not pull the vehicle along all by himself, and that the movie should be less a homage for the star himself but an actual movie itself, with or without him, movies like "Vikram" get made.
Who is Keyser Soze? Who is Verbal Kint? Who is Kobayashi...? Lokesh Kanakaraj exactly knows who they are. They are a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, creating a myth, perpetuating a legend. And "Vikram" is all those three wrapped one - a puzzle, a phantom and a phenom... The beauty of Lokesh's script during most of the first half is, Vikram is not who/what he is, but what other's idea of Vikram is, and this passes the first litmus test of the (aging) star vehicle that the character can expand and contract on other's minds. He can be a drunk, worthless, imbecile according to one, while be valiant, virtuous vigilate according to someone else (Kamal himself explored this curious perspective driven plot in "Virumandi" a couple of decades ago). This dichitomy takes off the burden of having to service the star in every other frame and instead allow the (labyrinthine) plot to grow, while simulataneously building the legend in the background. This dawning of the idea that the star power can be hidden in a nesting dolls structure like a plot, where peeling each layer, opening each door, instead of answering the questions, lends to adding to the legend, is the battle half-won for Lokesh. And from thereon, every character, every plot point, every performance, all serve the express purpose of serving the star, while relegating him strictly to the background. Fahad's (character's) brilliance ends up in admiration of Vikram, Vijay Sethupathi's menace (though a tad underwritten) ends up in a direct confrontation with Vikram, every thing is about Vikram, every aspect serves Vikram, except he is heard (about) more than he is seen... and that suits the movie (and Lokesh's strategy) swimmingly well. If history is of any evidence, Kamal left to his own devices (and direction) eats up the screen (and certainly not in a good way), but in the able hands (and mind) of Lokesh, less is definitely more.
The acting titans aside, "Vikram" scores heavily in the... well... background score department, which probably has one of the (if not, the) best rock scores ever committed to Indian screen. Per Spielberg, a movie is better enjoyed with the volume on, and it is better appreciated with the volume turned off. But "Vikram" has to enjoyed with its electrifying score pumping through all the channels, and appreciated for its undying relentless-ness. It doesn't follow the traditional muscial cues route, and instead sounds like one whole orchestral piece, like a complete rock concert.
Plot, execution, and action, "Vikram" soars in the foreground, as much as it does in the background, with the score, technicalities and its intent - Exactly how a (fading) star vehicle should ride!
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