The showman is back. Shankar`s “I” which was in the making for more than two years has hit the screens today. The film has already created lots of hype surrounding the role played by Chiyaan Vikram and his efforts in transforming into the hunchback character. The songs by ARR are already chart-busters. While there were several rumors that the film was based on the modeling industry, Shankar made it very clear that it`s a romantic thriller and nothing more than that. Will it be worth it?

The movie starts with the scene where the hunchback character (Vikram as Lingesan) kidnaps Diya (Amy Jackson) on her wedding day. The story is told in flashback with scenes from the present woven in between. Lingesan is an aspiring body builder and trains hard to become Mr India some point of time in future. He runs a gym in the name of “Arnold Gym” and also trains others to make some money for the contest. He also wins the Mr Tamilnadu contest. Diya is an Ad model who is very famous. Lingesan is a big fan of Diya and buys anything she advertises for. Incidentally, they meet up and to save Diya`s career from the hands of John (played by Upen Patel), Lingesan accepts to model along with her for an assignment in China. Lingesan alias Lee becomes famous after the assignment and they also fall in love with each other. But things go haywire when Lingesan refuses an Ad which promotes soft drinks with pesticides. This irritates the company owner (played by Ramkumar) and he joins hand with the John and a make-up artist (let that be a surprise) to take revenge on Lingesan. What they do to Lingesan and how he takes revenge on them forms the rest of the film.

Vikram is the real scene stealer in the film. The entire film revolves around his character “Lingesan”. He has lived the character and his body transformations from one scene to another will make your jaws drop. Whether he gets an award or not, I don`t think there is anyone currently in any film industry who can do this to their body for the sake of a movie. Be it the body builder talking local Tamil slang or the model shoots, or the hump character… he nails it and mesmerizes you throughout. The character played by Amy Jackson is a very delicate one and it was very important for her to emote in the right manner throughout the film. Else it could create a negative impact on the entire story. But Amy does a decent job here. Except for a few shots, she gets her lip sync right too. But it`s not so with Upen Patel or the make-up artist. Suresh Gopi`s has got one of the best roles ever in his career and that is more than enough to make the film a big hit in Kerala and surroundings. We have to give special credits to Santhanam. Apart from his regular one-liners in the first half, the scenes towards the climax is a scream and if you can come out of the theater smiling, then it's only because of Santhanam.

Shankar`s stamp is evident throughout the film. Be it the songs (painted towns and streets, exotic locales, graphics) or the fight sequences (Cycle fight, Gym fight or the climax train fight), comedy mixed along with the narration, larger than life characters, Sharp dialogues - everything is there abundant in I too. Except that he has focused the film on the romantic part and deviates from giving a message to the society. The climax of the film has a feel good factor, but will be too hard for a normal person to accept. But that`s exactly what a director like Shankar can do – make the impossible possible and he does make us believe in the same towards the end. We don`t have to talk much about the technical aspects of a Shankar film.. It`s always the best. Shots from PC Sriram is a revelation of beauty and serenity. Rahman`s (after a long gap) BGM is grand and lives up to the expectations. The stunt sequences are choreographed well, but looks repetitive at moments reminding us of Anniyan / Nayak. The editing could have been better.

On the negatives… the film drags little just before the interval. Some bit of trimming here and there could have made wonders, especially the scenes with the transgender character could have been cut short. It`s difficult to believe a senior and brilliant doctor like Vasudevan can inject himself with a wrong medicine. The movie jumps from the present to flash back at very regular intervals and that makes it little confusing some time. Otherwise, Shankar`s I is a fairy tale romance shot in exotic locations in grand extravagant with lot of thrilling action, smart dialogues and hilarious moments thrown in good doses, typical Shankar style. Overall its entertainment guaranteed and what more do you want from a Shankar film.