The Performance Hungry Hero.

 

      A majority of heroes perform as the directors want them to.A few heroes exceed the director's expectations,imbibe the spirit of the characters they do and finally end up in living the role bestowed upon them on screen.This is how Sivaji Ganesan very often performed and became the right model of acting for many other aspiring actors.At times, the audience came upon a deified hero like MGR, who generally made the directors direct him as he liked.But very rarely do we have the experience of watching some one with an insatiable quest for doing something different in each of their films.They always carry on an incomparable urge to try something impossible not bothering about the so called image factor.While Kamalahasan has already established his position as a film personality with an appetite for versatility,the only other hero who is ambitious about trying new layers of acting is Seeyaan Vikram.
    Vikram's modest beginning as a soft romantic hero, would not have projected him as a man with a huge agenda for acting and with unquestionable potential and credentials for moving up the acting ladder with self-made whims and convictions.Films like Meera,Ullaasam,Vinnukkum Mannukkum and Samurai would never be in his challenging list of roles.He should feel immensely indebted to an uncommon brand of director like Bala, for opening a broad gauge track and closing all level crossings simultaneously, so that a hero with a hidden treasure of exemplary acting zeal, could have his run fueled by nothing but the hardcore passion for acting. Sethu and Pithamagan were just a couple of sugar canes for a person with an elephantine hunger to perform.
   What makes Vikram different from others is his indifference to the concept of the hero image.If he had bothered about it he would not have taken up films like Sethu,Kasi and Pithamagan at the start of his career and Dheivathirumagal later. But it does not mean that he is unfit for the role of a full fledged action hero.His Dhil,Dhool, and Samy are perfect entertainers as amazing action films.The fact that most of the directors including Shankar,have not just stopped with one movie with Vikram shows how much trust they have reposed in his talent and how much they value his conviction for performing differently in each film. Bala, Dharani,Hari A.L.Vijay and Shankar are all there in the list as directors delighted by the performing vigour of Vikram that forced them to do another movie with him.Director Saran gave him an action bonanza with consummate juvenile gusto and the film Gemini that was released under the AVM banner, became a great entertainer.
   The amount of force and speed delivered by him in films like Dhool and Samy, his pointed underplay of emotions in the action genre of films such as Dhil,Gemini and Thaandavam,his unfailing grasp of vagaries and precision in seamlessly switching over to changed character delineation, in performing as a split personality in Shankar's Anniyan,his clean pass over from a casual and agile character mould to a sudden state of enforced dementia in Sethu and above all the silently delivered powerful role of an undertaker with inexhaustible love and revenge, in Pitha Magan will permanently mark him as a model actor with a mind full of fixations for multilateral performance.
      Like most other prominent heroes Vikram  too had to concede defeat in his ventures to prove himself as a valued actor.Movies like Arul,Bheema, Kandasamy and Rajapaattai were all moderate demonstrations of the hero's fight against the corrupt lobby or samples of gangsterism and did not speak good of the profound acting caliber of Vikram. Kaadhal Sadugudu was a breezy romance but even there, Prakash Raj stole the show with Vivek's comedy also taking the lead.'Maja' a moderate remake of the great Malayalam original Thommanum Makkalum,was also not on the expected line. The most hyped Raavanan that showed him as hero in the Tamil version and villain in the Hindi script did not bring in the expected result to boost either Vikram's performing zeal or Manirathnam's directorial stuff.
      But beyond all these common setbacks and failures,Vikram has never failed to impress as a unique type of hero willing to perform differently in everyone of his films.His impressive body language,graceful dialogue delivery,right perception of the different layers of emotion behind the nature of his character in isolation as well as its scenic fitment core,his readiness to be one hundred percent genuine to the role and the usual dancing and fighting abilities expected of a hero in standing, always put him on the leading side with a keen sense of professionalism and efficacy.Had he been an actor during the hey days of K.Balachander,he would have easily stolen the mind and spirit of that directorial genius.
      It is a known fact that many talented heroes are hard working,aspiring to achieve higher positions in their career,to stay permanently noticed and acknowledged as actors of merit.But the fire in Vikram is of a different kind, burning constantly,igniting his action engine towards remarkable destinations.Number of films does not matter for him.Hero image is immaterial for him.It is his craving to perform differently and excel in doing the job assigned to him without taking himself to the scuffle for limelight, that makes him an actor of singular mettle.His unrelenting desire to perform specially for a personal satisfaction, will always keep him in good stead. Reasonably tall and well built in physique,the performing spirit from with in, should always remain intact, to drive him to many more, award winning positions in his career.
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