Vikram

Vikram was one of the ambitious film projects of kamal, who collaborated with writer Sujatha. This was the last film in which Satyaraj acted as villain.

He had started acting as hero then & was reluctant. But kamal insisted that he act as the villain with the assurance that he would later produce a film with him as hero. That film was "Kadamai Kanniyam kattupadu".

Vikram had a good cast, lovely locales, melodious songs, gorgeous heroines & a smart & handsome kamal as a cop, yet it failed at the box office.

The reason was that that the usual masala elements were missing. Also, after a riveting first half, the film went haywire in the 2nd half when the story moved to Salamia (imaginary country). Janakaraj's antics were annoying & also the pace of the film slackened a bit.

The trailer was in the theatres for a few months before its release raising great expectations, specially amongst kamal fans.

Over the years, it has gone on to become a classic & shown repeatedly on TV.

Yes we should say this is a Sci-Fi movie of that time (80's).

ICBM is a dream for India on that time, the Computers with Tamil text was nearly impossible. Science fiction does speaks the "not so far future" too.

The way the movie goes, the opening RPG shot, Sathyaraj's intro, Sujatha's dialogs, the comedy scene's at Salamia are well taken. The innocent politician.

We well know that the scene's are from different H/W movies, but the way Kamal presented the movie for Tamil audience is nice. Every one in the movie did there role perfectly.

This is the Second Sci-fi after M.G.R's Kalaiarasi.

9/10- because for non originality.

This was a typical Kamal Haasan Movie, that will get less appreciation when it is released but will get more applause later on. Kamal haasan has carried the movie on his shoulders and he has sung the title song too.

A Sci-fi movie with missiles, different languages, camels and deserts and head shots. Songs are composed by Ilayaraja and are very soothing and are of different genres. Locations and dialogues are crisp and clean and gives you a good suspense movie feel.

Lissy and Dimple kapadia sizzles in this movie and there are a couple of Lip-locks too.

I agree with you. Vikram is a really enjoyable movie. A big budget extravaganza which borrows heavily from many Bond movies. Kamal Hassan plays an undercover cop, assigned to track down an international smuggler who hijacked a nuclear missile. After his wife gets shot by a sniper, he swears revenge on her killers and this leads him to an imaginary country, Salamia. Salamia is shown as a kingdom ruled by Amjad Khan. He is a typical emperor wearing robes and jewels and has an army of his own. His beautiful daughter, played by the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, falls in love with Kamal. The song pictured on Kamal and Dimple, 'Meendum Meendum Va', is one of the most melodious of Ilayaraja. Throughout the movie, the locales are exotic and well pictured.

Upon release, Vikram was panned by critics. It was termed one of Kamal's bad movies. But financially, Vikram was a success and had a good run throughout. The songs became classics and even the baddie Sathyaraj became a sought-after hero, after Vikram. The stunt director Dharma was affixed the title 'Vikram' and came to be known as 'Vikram' Dharma.

Today in Indian cinema, where several filmmakers struggle to make a decent spy thriller, kamal hassan made a very good spy thriller back in 1986(pre Timothy Dalton era) like james bond.

Vikram is a fun and entertaining spy adventure movie without any dull moments. Ilaiyaraja's music was perfect. It very well captures the essence of james bond films. Technically or writing wise, it has not aged well but if you see it without the eyes of a modern audience and back as an 80s film, you will enjoy it.