With films like Kaithi and Master, Lokesh Kanagaraj is establishing himself as a filmmaker that Tamil cinema should take seriously and applaud. Well his movie Vikram’s trailer was revealed at Burj Khalifa and it shined throughout Dubai. What he’s attempted and accomplished with his latest film Vikram, which marks Kamal Haasan’s triumphant return after a long absence, is something that few filmmakers can even imagine, let alone execute. Lokesh, a self-confessed Kamal Haasan devotee, not only paid a poignant tribute to his ‘guru,’ but also hinted at the start of a series with Vikram – a sort of sequel to Kamal’s 1986 film of the same name – which may keep Kamal busy for years to come. Vikram lets Kamal to have a good time, and he’s aided by Fahadh Faasil and Vijay Sethupathi, who put up terrific performances. Well as per reviews the movie is to be given a 3.5 rating.
Vikram picks up where Lokesh left off with Kaithi. Two containers worth of drugs went missing in Chennai months after the greatest drug bust Tamil Nadu police had ever done, and local gangs must collect them at any cost before the crime lord and leader of the drug mobster Rolex – played by Suriya – makes everyone pay. Meanwhile, a gang of masked men is on the loose, murdering several high-ranking officers, including Kalidas’ character, a young narcotics control bureau official. In the film, Kamal plays Karnan. When his son is a captive of the mob, he embarks on a quest for payback. What starts off as just another revenge story quickly devolves into a mission coordinated by Karnan, who is presented much later as agent Vikram, the original role played by Kamal in the 1986 film. We need to really applaud for Lokesh who brought back Kamal’s highly under rated character of agent Vikram that too after decades.
The film did struggle at times and wasn’t always fascinating, but it did manage to bring together important characters from Lokesh’s previous film Kaithi and lays the ground for what could be Tamil cinema’s biggest franchise. With Vikram, Lokesh succeeds to show a new generation of audiences Kamal Haasan’s flexibility, despite the film’s slightly long running period of nearly three hours. It seemed good to see the veteran shine again after such a long period.