Rama Krishna Sangem
Only a few months back, Kamal Haasa was written off after his political career, along with that of films appeared down and out. Many movie pundits and producers were not ready to bet on him big anymore. But the 67 year old veteran superstar has bounced back with a blockbuster. All is not lost with him, both as an actor with superstar appeal, but also as a producer who can make monies, with one single movie – Vikram.
It is tough to do, but he did it. This 174 minutes long Tamil action movie is going great guns at the box office.
Vikram which was made into Tamil and dubbed into other languages on a big budget of Rs 120 crore has overnight changed the fortunes of Kamal. Released on June 3, the movie within two weeks raked in around Rs 350 crore and it expected to cross Rs 400 crore as it runs out of cinema halls and enters OTT. Kamal who hasn’t seen a big hit since Viswaroopam-2 in 2018 will be a rich man once again.
His film career seen many flops or not-so encouraging results for several years at the box office as his political path of his party – Makkal Needhi Maiam, founded in February 2018 – failed at the ballot box in Tamil Nadu. In fact, his film career graph was clouded by his political stand. Heavy in ideology. That too, he took a long time to plunge into politics, just like his close friend Rajinikanth. But, in Tamil politics, there is no space for timid people.
Kamal Haasan is known for his style of acting – heavily dominated by mannerisms. Kamal refuses to immerse in the character, whatever the role. There will be saturation for this kind of acting. Even superstars fade away, if audience get bored of mannerism oriented acting. In Vikram, he has fixed this problem. We must appreciate Kamal for daring to reinventing himself as a hero.
In Vikram, he gave equal or more screen space for other co-stars – Fahad Fassil and Vijay Sethupathi. I watched the movie, in Prasads, Tamil version with English subtitles. There were whistles, cries whenever Fassil or Sethupathi appeared on screen. Even Suriya who appears in a cameo role in the end too evoked loud applause from the fans. Of course, Kamal too got his share of applause.
The story line revolves around Kamal’s character of Vikram- he avenges murder of his son by a drugs mafia and now takes care of his grandson. He, with the name of Karnan, runs a secret gang to nab the criminals. Sethupathi as Sandhanam, a local drug lord works for a top boss – Rolex and Fassil, as Agent Amar, commander of a squad tries to finish the mafia add meat and muscle to the narrative, through their dense performance.
Lastly, Suriya appears as Rolex, and signals that there might be a sequel or part- 2. Director Lokesh Kanagaraj took enough care that Kamal doesn’t dominate the screen space. Anirudh Ravichander had a field day in music and RR. Girish Gangadharan is the DoP. Philomin Raj did a great job at the editing table. Kamal, as a major share producer, along with another maker R Mahendran is sure to take home a lion’s share of the profits.
Now, we can not just expect more big ticket movies from Kamal in the coming days. And who knows’ Vikram movie will also lift his political career in Tamil Nadu. Here is a lesson for youngsters – don’t give up, even if there are bundle of flops, till you get what you want.
