Vikram's built look for Sketch, an upcoming Tamil thriller written and directed by Vijay Chander, has sent Twitter into a frenzy.
The film is expected to release in January this year, with the possibility of a clash with Suriya's film Thaana Serndha Kootam. Sketch also has Tamannaah and Sri Priyanka in lead roles.
#ChiyaanVikram’s #Sketch all set for a January 12 Pongal Release. Post production work in progress. @theVcreations is keen that Censor should take place before December 15, to get Tamil & Telugu release simultaneously. pic.twitter.com/6VDWNXqkWN
— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) November 18, 2017
Vikram, who won a National Award for Bala's Pithamagan, is known for his ability to change his looks and transform into the character. Though he has delivered hits playing the macho man in many of his films, his fans watch out for roles where the 51-year-old actor stuns the audience with his ability to change his body, voice, and gestures.
Here's a peek at Vikram's different looks over the years.
Sethu: Vikram's big breakthrough film had him play a thug who becomes obsessed with a woman, even threatening to kill her if she doesn't reciprocate. He suffers brain damage in a fight and is institutionalised. The film saw the actor lose weight, shave his head and change his body language.
Kasi: The Tamil remake of the Malayalam film Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum, Vikram played a visually impaired singer/poet in this Vinayan directorial. The actor trained hard for the role, practising rolling his eyeballs up so that only the whites of his eyes could be seen. He reportedly practised so hard that his perfect vision changed after the film and he had to wear glasses.
Pithamagan: Vikram played the role of a reclusive man who is brought up in a graveyard and hasn't socialised with anyone. He grunted the few dialogues he had in the film and most of the communication was done through his gestures and body language, not in the least how he moved his facial muscles.
Anniyan: Vikram played three roles in this Shankar film about a man with multiple personality disorder. In one, he was Ambi, a meek Brahmin lawyer, in another he was Remo, a model, and the third one, he was a vigilante serial killer called Anniyan. The Anniyan look with the unique way in which he moved his eyes won him praise.
Deiva Thirumagal: Based on the Hollywood film I am Sam, this AL Vijay directorial had Vikram play the role of a father with the intellectual ability of a six-year-old. The film received mixed reviews and Vikram's performance, too, faced criticism from certain quarters.
I: Pairing up again with Shankar, this film was a thriller about a bodybuilder who goes on a spree to extract revenge from the people who turned him into a "monster". Vikram's two looks from the film – a bright-eyed bodybuilder with big muscles and a man suffering from muscular dystrophy – were startling even if the film itself received mixed reviews.
Iru Mugan: Vikram played the hero and the antagonist in this film. The villain, Love, was a stylish queer person. While the negative characterisation adds to stereotypes about the LGBTQI community in cinema, Vikram's Love was far more dignified than the average representation.
Vikram is, without a doubt, among the most versatile actors of his generation. Among women actors, the Malayalam industry's Parvathy is known to be quite the chameleon. Read more here: Will you recognise actor Parvathy if you met her? Don't bet on it!