Shankar Inspired by Arnold

At the glitzy audio launch of I, which had Arnold Schwarzenegger as the special guest, director Shankar finally opened up a bit about the film. Talking about the film, Shankar said, "This film is not like the Wolfman or Hulk. It is not about the Olympics or on sports as some people have written. It is not a sci-fi or a film with a social message or a fun film. It is an entirely a new genre for me — romantic thriller. The character that Vikram plays in the film is called Lingeswaran. Since Vikram is playing a bodybuilder, Arnold was an inspiration. We have even given the character a curl like the one that Arnold had during his bodybuilder days”.

Almost 25 per cent of the film has been shot in China, he revealed. "The conditions there were extreme but we managed to shoot a song and some stunt sequences there. Action choreographer Peter Ming got actual cycling champions in China for a cycle fight scene that we shot there”. Vikram, who had to lose over 25kg to play the hunchback character in the film, remarked that fasting for a role is not a bother, if the role is interesting enough. The actor added that everyone around him started feeling a little awkward when he was losing weight. "They started asking me why I was even trying out such drastic things. So, I avoided going out to any event. I did not even meet my fans during this time and I thank them for standing by me," he said.

-Siva Kumar.