Vikram (2022 film)

Vikram
First look poster
Directed by	Lokesh Kanagaraj
Written by	Lokesh Kanagaraj Rathna Kumar
Story by	Lokesh Kanagaraj
Produced by	Kamal Haasan R. Mahendran
Starring	Kamal Haasan Vijay Sethupathi Fahadh Faasil
Cinematography	Girish Gangadharan
Edited by	Philomin Raj
Music by	Anirudh Ravichander
Production company	Raaj Kamal Films International
Release date	31 March 2022 (2022-03-31)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Vikram is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Raaj Kamal Films International.^[1] The film features an ensemble cast with Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil^[2][3] in the lead roles along with Shivani Narayanan, Kalidas Jayaram,^[4] Narain, Antony Varghese and Arjun Das in supporting roles. The soundtrack and film score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with cinematography handled by Girish Gangadharan and editing done by Philomin Raj. The film is not a sequel to the 1986 film of the same name, though the film's official title teaser (released 7 November 2020) used a remixed version of the theme song from the 1986 film.^[5] The film is scheduled for theatrical release on 31 March 2022.^[6]

Cast[]

• Kamal Haasan as Vikram
• Vijay Sethupathi as Vanjaram
• Fahadh Faasil as Arjunan
• Narain as devdas
• Kalidas Jayaram as Vignesh alias vicky
• Arjun Das as Hitman
• Antony Varghese
• Sampath Ram
• Hareesh Peradi
• Shanvi Srivastava
• Maheswari
• Shivani Narayanan

^[7]

Production[]

Development[]

Lokesh Kanagaraj was signed by Kamal Haasan's production house Raaj Kamal Films International to direct a film for the studio during November 2019. For which he had previously mentioned his admiration of Kamal Haasan's work, noting that two of the actor's films, Sathya (1988) and Virumaandi (2004), had influenced him to become a film director.^[8] Despite agreeing terms, both the director and the studio opted to prioritise commitments, for other films before beginning production work.^[9][1] Lokesh narrated the script of the proposed film to Rajinikanth during December 2019.^[10][11] The project which was tentatively titled as Thalaivar 169, was scheduled to be launched in March 2020.^[12] Despite the progress of discussions, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the launch of the film.^[13][14][15]

In September 2020, Lokesh announced a different project, that would feature Kamal Haasan in the lead role.^[16] The film's official poster was released on 16 September 2020,^[17][18] which came under the tentative title Evanendru Ninaithaai,^[19][20][21] a titular song from his film Vishwaroopam (2013), and it features Anirudh Ravichander scoring music for the film, collaborating with Kamal Haasan and Lokesh for the second time after Indian 2 and Master.^[22] The team shot for a promotional teaser of the film during October 2020 in Chennai, adhering to the COVID-19 safety regulations suggested by the Indian government.^[23] Coinciding with the actor's 66th birthday, 7 November 2020,^[24] the makers unveiled the title teaser of the film,^[25] featuring Kamal Haasan,^[26] in which the title of the film was revealed to be Vikram, a repeat of an earlier film of the same name, starring the actor which was released in 1986.^[27][28][29]

Casting[]

In the film, Kamal Haasan was reported to play a police officer and media reports stated that he will don a "khaki uniform" for this film, after 15 years since the Gautham Menon directorial Vettayaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006).^[30] Lokesh roped in his norm technicians, cinematographer Sathyan Sooryan and editor Philomin Raj, who previously worked with the director in his projects for the film.^[31] However due to schedule conflicts, Sooryan was replaced by Girish Gangadharan, in his second Tamil film after Sarkar (2018),^[32] whose inclusion was later confirmed by Lokesh on July 2021.^[33][34] Twin stunt choreographers Anbariv, were announced a part of the film's technical crew.^[35] This marked the duo's second collaboration with Lokesh after Kaithi (2019), where they received accolades for the stunt sequences.^[35][36]

Raghava Lawrence was initially approached to play the antagonist in the film during March 2021,^[37] however he stepped out of the project due to his prior commitments.^[38] In April 2021, Fahadh Faasil confirmed his presence in acting in the film, where he will be seen as a politician.^[39] The film marked Fahadh's third project in Tamil after Velaikkaran (2017) and Super Deluxe (2019).^[39] In May 2021, Vijay Sethupathi announced his confirmation in the project, collaborating with Lokesh for the second time after Master.^[40] Antony Varghese who earlier stepped out of the director's previous film Master citing date issues agreed to play an integral part in the film, thus making this his debut in Tamil cinema.^[41] It was revealed that Arjun Das was approached for a role in the film, in his third consecutive association with the director Lokesh after Kaithi and Master.^[42] Narain who appeared in a pivotal role in Lokesh's Kaithi too signed the project.^[43] Kalidas Jayaram was approached to be cast in a pivotal role in July 2021, where he essays Haasan's son.^[44]

In August 2021, Andrea Jeremiah hinted her presence working in this film after being associated in Haasan's previous projects.^[45] The same month, television actress and one of the constants of Bigg Boss Tamil series, Shivani Narayanan was roped in to play one of the three female leads paired opposite Sethupathi's character.^[3][46] In September, Mynaa Nandhini and Maheshwari Chanakyan were confirmed as the other two actresses.^[47][48] Swathishta Krishnan and Malayalam actor Chemban Vinod Jose, were cast in pivotal roles, the latter in his Tamil film debut.^[49] In October, popular Tamil-language YouTube channel, Village Cooking Channel team (M. Periyathambi, the grandson V. Subramanian and his cousins), were cast as a part of the film during the third schedule for a wedding sequence.^[50][51] In November 2021, Hareesh Peradi was also confirmed to star in a pivotal role.^[52]

Filming[]

After Kamal Haasan's commitments during the 2021 Tamil Nadu legislative assembly elections, the launch of the film began on 7 April, with a post shared by Lokesh Kanagaraj through his social media handles.^[53] As Haasan decided to shoot for the film only after the election results, since he contested in the Coimbatore South constituency, he demanded Lokesh to make changes in the script.^[54] The major shooting schedule of the film is set inside a restaurant, which is a long schedule lasting for 60 days.^[30] For this, Kamal has been reported to introduce a new technology, that would shorten the days of film production, although the details were not disclosed.^[55] The film's principal photography began with a photoshoot session on 16 July 2021.^[56] Kamal Haasan, was reported to play a retired police officer, where he will be sporting a thick beard in the film.^[57] For the flashback portions, Lokesh Kanagaraj reported to use de-aging technology for the film, which was previously used in The Irishman (2019) and the Tamil film Aadhavan (2009).^[58] The flashback sequence in its entirety, was eventually said to be cost around ₹10 crore, particularly for the technology used in the film.^[58][59]

The team began shooting for the film's first schedule in Karaikudi, on 6 August, which was delayed eventually since the shooting of Suriya's Etharkkum Thunindhavan, took place in the same location and the crew had to begin filming only after the crew members leave the location post-shooting, as per the COVID-19 safety regulations.^[60] The first schedule began on 20 August, and shooting took place for a month in Karaikudi. The team began second schedule of the film in Chennai on 19 September and later moved to Pondicherry, to shoot further sequences.^[61] The second schedule of the film was subsequently wrapped on 2 October 2021.^[62][63] On 13 October, the film makers started shooting for the third schedule of the film.^[64] The team planned to shoot two sequences at the Tamil Nadu Police Museum for four days, including two days of set work in 24–25 October and two days of shooting 27–28 October 2021, but the officials denied permission to shoot there, citing the pandemic restrictions. The makers later decided to postpone the shoot, as they needed for an alternative location.^[65][66]

The team began the final and month-long schedule on 17 November 2021 in Coimbatore,^[67][68] with scenes featuring Haasan, Sethupathi and Faasil being shot.^[69][70] However, filming was halted after Kamal Haasan gets diagnosed with COVID-19 after his travel to United States, for the inauguration of his clothing brand.^[71] This resulted the team for shooting major stunt sequences in indoors.^[72] A set work with more than 50 damaged cars, has been shot in Coimbatore during this schedule, and following the actor's health condition, the team decided to shift the location to Binny Mills for continuity.^[72]

Music[]

The film's soundtrack and background score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, making this his second collaboration with Lokesh Kanagaraj and Kamal Haasan after Master and Indian 2 respectively. The film's official title teaser (released 7 November 2020) used a remixed version of the theme song from the 1986 film of the same name.^[5] It has been reported that actor Kamal Haasan has been written a kuthu song, which will also features vocals by him.^[73] The music rights were purchased by Sony Music.

Release[]

The film was initially scheduled for theatrical release in April 2022.^[6][74] However, following the releases of multiple big-budget films during that month, the makers decided to prepone the release to 31 March 2022.^[75][76] The Hindi dubbed version of the film was sold for ₹37 crore (US$4.9 million) to Goldmines Telefilms, prior to the announcement of theatrical release.^[77] Many trade pundits claimed the film as the "hottest in the trade".^[78] In October 2021, it was reported that Lokesh Kanagaraj had plans for converting the film into a franchise and decided to announce a sequel at the end of this film.^[79]

References[]

External links[]

• Vikram at IMDb