Vikkals of Vikram review: This show rides on the comedian’s delivery

Vikram Arul Vidyapathi’s show Vikkals of Vikram began with the comedian trying to put an audience member at ease. “Bro, it’s okay. Don’t get intimidated by the lights and this fog. I am actually a big fan of the movie Sachein, you know?” The audience, familiar with the reference to the 2005 Vijay film that was criticised for over-using fog machines (even at the Coimbatore airport), broke into loud applause and laughter. The hour-long show was filled with several such subtle yet hilarious Tamil pop culture references that required some level of pop culture familiarity from the audience for the jokes to work.  

Popularly known as Vikkals Vikram, the comedian had the entire audience in splits when he staged Vikkals of Vikram at Chennai’s Music Academy last weekend. While the anecdotal comedy might not have taken a genius to write, the show rode completely on Vikram’s ability to effortlessly slip in and out of characters with voice modulations and body language that turned even awkward silences into jokes.

Take this anecdote for instance. When one of his older cousins announced that she was in love with a man from a different caste, what followed was an argument between her and the elders of the family. During this time, the rest of the cousins were praying that the family accept the relationship. “One of my cousins went down on his knees to pray,” he said, quickly dropping to his knees and breaking into loud and dramatic prayer like some Christians denominations. He then bounced back to his feet, to represent himself in that situation, and said, “Oh! Nee apdi variyaa,” (a reference to Redin Kingsley’s famous dialogue from the film Doctor). If you knew the reference, you’d know that his cousin was in love with a Christian.

Vikram called out the rape culture that Tamil cinema normalised. He spoke about how films, including those released in the first decade of the 21st century, considered it a crime for women to be in romantic relationships, but normalised marrying off a woman to her assaulter if she were raped.

He also ridiculed the government-run ad campaigns against smoking and tobacco chewing that are often played in cinema theatres. “More people probably started smoking from the stress of seeing what state Mukesh (a character in the government’s anti-smoking ad) was in,” he said.

However, the main act, filled with anecdotes that Vikram said were from his life, touched upon themes such as feminism, sex education, sexual harassment, caste, and sexuality. Yes, it seemed like he was checking off items from a list of ‘woke essentials’. Vikram approached these themes from the point of view of his younger and judgemental self, who went head on into society with little to no awareness of their nuances. But all these topics were mentioned so briefly that it leaned more towards posturing than an actual attempt at initiating a discussion.

The anecdotal comedy of Vikkals of Vikram is in line with the content that he posts on Instagram, especially the parody of Tamil song recordings. There wouldn’t be many social media users who haven’t come across his widely popular reel on the song ‘Nilavai Konduva’ posted in 2022, that now has 10.9 million views. Those familiar with the song would be able to recollect the difference in the mood of the two lead singers Anuradha Sriram and Unni Krishnan. Vikram brings in his trademark comedic interpretation to it, portraying Unni as down with a fever during the recording, going on to hilariously explain why that could have been so.

Most members of the audience must have left with their sides hurting from all the laughing. But beyond the instant laughter, was there anything to take home? One also mustn’t ignore the fact that this was not the first time that a comic has called out similar societal issues. Originality was largely missing in a show that clicked more or less due to Vikram’s impeccable delivery.

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.