I Manoharadu:
The crowds are literally flocking the theatres and the film is clear evidence
of the high expectations from the audience in view of the hype that went with
the release of the film. Huge effort from Vikram and Director Shanker
constitute the mainstream of this voluminous entertainment. Finesse, humour,
pleasantness, class ae rude words thrown at the film maker. The buoyancy of his
technical skillsets take the driver’s seat and the artistic requirements are in
the trunk. ‘I’ is unhesitatingly recommended for those who love loud and gory
stuff and are willing to embark upon perverse hate and destruction as
entertainment. To the rest the film is a keep away.
Beserk. As the hunched back and scary guy kidnaps the bride to be you know that
you have a ticket for an over kill Shanker statement. Immediately thereafter is
the long drawn fight at the local Vyamshala in the midst of the show to adjudge
the new Mr AP. You know that this outing is grotesque beyond compare, loud
beyond tolerance.
In the backdrop is the story of Lingeshwar ( Vikram) living to become the local
hunk of all he surveys badly smitten by Model Dia ( Amy Jackson). The upcoming
model is harassed with the casting couch challenge by model John (Upen Patel).
She decides to help the metamorphosis of the country bumpkin Lingeshwar into an
international model with the support of designer Osma Jasmiine (Ojis M Rajni)
alongside the assistance of family friend and doctor Dr. Vasu (Suresh Gopi).
Soon it is the emotional chaos out there in China: with a parallel of revenge
by the hunchback with the assistance of friend Gym Babu (Santanam) At China Dia
is cajoled to feign love at the instance of the Director (Mohan Kapoor) to get
the necessary screen chemistry as required for the new modelling script.
Linigeshwar, now Lee being the naïve guy picked from poverty falls to the viles
of the modelling world. Soon however Osma Jasmine spills the beans and Lee
comes to know of the conspiracy. John sends a good part of local Chinese
personnel to attack Lee. He handles all of them singularly. You wish he were
there in 1962!! At the avenging end we have a body building competitor being
shown as suffering the agenda of vendetta. Give me death the victims ask. Worse
you will get, declares the predator.
The simple love triangle that once blossomed in the midst of melody and the
stair case rolling violence gave way to bizarre violence of stunts, style,
blood splattering and glass shattering moments. Shanker takes you to new
horizons of chemical revenge (near warfare) and sensitivity challenging
vendetta with the beauty cast against the beast in hitherto unseen gory
possibilities of storytelling.
From the theatre centric noise creating music, to sanguinary hyper trichosis
and neuro fibromatosis, entertainment and creativity has a new claimant, if
scary and insensitive high in Shanker. The film-maker thus defines and designs
his cinema. Even the marginally sensitive, nay the sensitivity challenged would
look away at many sequences in the film. If that were the intent, hats off to
Shanker. He surely achieves what he sets off to achieve. Also the supposed
thriller that unfolds assumes the audience is not only sadistic but grossly
unintelligent and cannot relate to the seeming loose ends and requires him to
step in and knot them to a conclusion.
Vikram hams and delivers new heights in this form. The likes of Upen, Ojis
Rajni and Suresh Gopi are about adequate. Amy Jackson reiterates the dubious
belief that good models make back actors. Vikram – huge huge effort. The one
bright spot is sure the light hearted moments contributed by the fine timing of
Santanam. If the film maker throws a single letter at you, you are entitled to
throw back two at him!!
Rating : 2 stars
– Perverse
+ Milestone defining