Vikram’s Vigorous Struggle Pays Off?

January 14, 2015

Actor Vikram turned heads all over the nation with his diverse looks in his upcoming magnum oppus I. Perhaps, for the first-time ever in the country, an actor’s looks in the movie were talked about most. Vikram essays dual role with four versatile get ups – Bodybuilder, Hunchbacked disfigured man, Beast and Modern guy with stylish hairstyle – for which the actor underwent vigorous struggle.

For one character, he had to gain weight and for another, he had to lose 20-25 kilos, yet the method-actor managed to make it by taking three years for body transitions. Vikram lost about nearly 50 percent of his original body weight and he found it very tough to control his urge to eat. “It was extremely difficult to control hunger. It drove me crazy,” stated 48-year-old actor.

“For the role of the bodybuilder, I had to beef up and work out extensively in the gym to have a muscular body. I could’ve easily achieved that with the help of steroids, but I avoided it despite being wooed into using it by professionals,” he said. “It was for the role of the disfigured man that I lost nearly half of my original body weight. Shankar never wanted me to lose weight for this role but I did it anyways. I had to control my hunger to achieve the desired look. I literally survived on fluids,” he added.

Vikram admits there were instances he couldn’t control his hunger. “I completely stopped going out during the course of the shoot as we wanted to keep the look a secret. Since I spent most of my time at home, I was tempted to scarf down homemade food, especially biryani,” he said. “Some days I ended up eating in the middle of the night. I would eat anything that I found in the fridge. I just couldn’t control my hunger,” he added.

Besides gaining and losing weight, it wasn’t quite easy to have make-up for each role. “It took me 3 to 5 hours for the makeup of the beast’s look,” shared Vikram. Considering all these, one could understand the efforts put by Vikram into the film and how he breathed life into the roles he portrayed. Since the movie is simultaneously releasing in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages across world (including in Pakistan) on Wednesday (Jan 14), whole country is eagerly waiting to watch I. All eyes are on Vikram and Shankar who worked for years to make this big-budget movie possible. Given that none other than Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger attended the I audio launch, expectations soaring high. Will the film able to live up to all the hype surrounding it? Will Vikram-Shankar duo’s romantic thriller enthralls? Stay glued for our verdict.

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I (AI) Movie Review

January 14, 2015

Movie :I (AI)

Rating :2.5/5

Cast: Vikram, Amy Jackson and Others

Directed by: Shankar

Produced by: NV Prasad, Paras Jain

Banner: Aascar Films

Music by: A.R. Rahman

Release Date: 2015-01-14

I is one of the most awaited movies of the year with maverick director Shankar wielding the megaphone and Vikram playing the role of a mysterious hunchback. The film has generated tremendous prerelease hype. Did it live up to the expectations?

Story :

Lingesa (Vikram) is an aspiring Mr. India who is madly in love with top model Diya (Amy Jackson). Lingesa wins the title of Mr. Andhra and signs up endorsements with local products. Diya is harassed by her colleague, model John (Upen Patel). She encourages Lingesa to take up full time modeling in order to teach a lesson to John.

Lingesa clicks as a model and becomes very busy. He makes few enemies in this process and they inject virus into the body of Lingesa that turns him into ugly hunchback. How Lingesa takes his revenge forms rest of the story.

Performances:

Vikram: Vikram is a hardworking actor and goes to any extent to make the character work. His amazing transformation from a body builder to a model to a hunchback is a treat to watch. His performance in this film is mind-boggling and one of the finest ever on Indian screen. His body language as the hunchback is one of the biggest plus points of this film.

Others: Amy Jackson is not a great actress, but she suits the role of a model to the T. Suresh Gopi is fine in a predictable role. Upen Patel is alright as the model. Santhanam is okay in a character that occasionally tickles your funny bone.

Technicalities:

Direction: Shankar, who is known for making intelligent films that appeal to the masses, is not up to the mark in this film. Shankar had an interesting premise on his hand but messed it up with lethargic screenplay. I doesn’t have any arresting moments that will leave you awestruck. Shankar who can make any concept work with his imagination and visual sense looked out of place in this film. He relied too much on Vikram’s performance to pull this off.

Others: Rahman’s music is average. Not up to the standards of his previous works done for Shankar’s films. Cinematography is topnotch. Every frame is rich and visually stunning. Editing is pretty bad. The film’s run time is over three hours and there are many scenes that are needlessly stretched. The film is technically sound.

Thumbs Up:

Vikram

Cinematography

Thumbs Down:

Overlong

Screenplay

Gross visuals

Analysis:

A model turning into a hunchback and taking revenge against the wrongdoers is the main plot of I. This could have been a slick thriller with racy screenplay and thrilling moments. However I is stretched too long for more than three hours without proper reason. Seems like Shankar just had an idea on mind and simply wrote a rough draft of script for it and went on to make a movie.

There are far too many boring sequences in the film which will force you to take a break. Despite narrating the story in spaced flashback method, the screenplay hardly engages you due to its predictability. The techniques used by Vikram for taking revenge are not at all effective. Except for the brilliant performance of Vikram, there is nothing to admire about this poorly executed film.

Shankar tried to explain everything in detail which is absolutely not necessary. This film disappoints on many levels as it comes from the master filmmaker. We could understand some mediocre director to make such lackluster movie, but coming from Shankar, I will hurt you even more. Weak script, overly long run time, poor execution, unexciting narration doesn’t let I to live up to the hype it has generated.

Rare disappointment from Shankar that will now rely on the festive audience to swim across to a safe zone. Given its high budget and massively disappointing content, I will need a miracle to click at the ticket windows. Watch I for Vikram if you are hell bent on watching it and make sure to keep your expectations as low as possible.

Verdict: Rare failure from Mr. Dependable Director.

Balayya Didn’t Forget Decade Old Stain

January 14, 2015

Claiming himself as a hardcore Nandamuri fan, director AS Ravikumar Chowdary boasted a lot about directing Nandamuri Balakrishna very soon. However, this director of Pilla Nuvvuleni Jeevitham is now devising a script for young hero Nitin. If we get under the layers of this, it looks Balayya hasn’t forgotten the decade old back stain made by this director.

After the super success of “Yagnam” in 2004, AS Ravikumar Chowdary somehow got a chance to director Balakrishna. Failing to cash on the opportunity, Chowdary made dud flick “Veerabhadra” with Balayya. The film not just tanked at box office, but opened gates for a long list of flops that lasted for next five years.

Even after a decade, our director is said to be preparing and narrating similar masala stories that date back to the 90s. His Pilla Nuvvuleni Jeevitham also has a weak and routine plot, but thanks to comedy and new ‘mega’ hero who saved him.

Looking at all these developments, Balayya has immediately hanged a ‘housefull’ board for Chowdary, because he doesn’t want to risk before he hits the 100th milestone. Anyway, let’s hope our director will come up with something new if he desires to direct his heartthrob director even later.

Did We Find The New Milky Siren?

January 14, 2015

We have only one milky siren till date and that is Tamanna Bhatia. Despite her continuous flop treats to audiences, she remained on top and became sought after actress due to enchanting glamour. All these days, there is no competition to her charms, but it seems like we have found one.

This new girl’s name is Surabhi. She made her debut in Tamil films a year back and is recently seen in Danush’s Raghuvaran B.Tech where she played cute role in second half. And now, she will be debuting as heroine on Telugu silver screen with Sandeep Kishan’s Beeruva.

Her dazzling looks from the movie’s songs have bowled out cine lovers. Though not slim on Tamanna’s lines, Surabhi’s little chubby looks are enticing. Looking at the kind of milky glow she has, we could say that another milky siren has made her way into Tollywood. Is it or not?

Chakri’s Fans Severely Hurt

January 14, 2015

Music director Chakri’s death has surely left the lovers of his captivating tunes in a deep sorrow. Adding more to it, the family fight within this music director’s family is hurting fans more. A day later Chakri’s wife Sravani accused that the music director’s mother is responsible for death, his mom filed a reverse complaint on daughter-in-law, stating that Chakri got poisoned by his wife.

These developments are literally slinging more mud on the melodious life of Chakri. ‘Why do they want to pull Chakri into this scum? Already we’re mourning the irreparable loss due to his sudden death and now these allegations from both sides are just hurting us more’, said couple of Chakri fans.

Many feel that these family members including his wife and mother seem to be more concerned about sharing Charki’s wealth and properties rather playing a perfect tribute to him. Fans are believing that their favourite composer had a natural death and hope even truth remains the same.

First Look: Nara Rohith’s ASURA

January 14, 2015

Known for choosing unique and new concepts for his films, Nara Rohith is back again with ‘Good is Bad’ theme for his new film ‘Asura’.

Here is the first look of his own ‘Asura’ Movie and he himself is presenting the film. Nara Rohith is now ‘ASURA’ !

Will He Come Back with Blockbuster?

January 14, 2015

Given the fact that Shankar is the most-sought after director in South India and perhaps the most-paid filmmaker in India, audience’ expectations on his next movie I, that is due for release on Jan 14, are top notch. Even the distributors took so much risk on the film and bet big on the big-budget flick.

However, they realised to the “risk factor” very late. After Rajini’s Lingaa failed to meet expectations and pushed distributors into financial woes, now few distributors of I too worrying high. Since Shankar’s previous film Snehitudu (Nanban in Tamil), the remake of 3 Idiots, was a failure and the director was not in great form, the distributors of I are going through anxious moments and keeping their fingers crossed.

This seems to be one of the main reasons why leading financiers PVP put pressure on Aascar Ravichandran before the film’s release and sought for settlement in advance. “Of late, several mega budget flicks with high expectations failed to deliver.

That fear of failure might be there undercurrent, but Shankar is the game-changer. His name alone sells the film,” shared a distributor from Chennai. So, wait till tomorrow to know the fate of I and Shankar.