For the fans of one of India's top actors, Kamal Haasan, it has been a long wait for his new movie. The actor's last released movie before Vikram, which opened in theatres world over today (June 3), was the 2018 film Vishwaroopam 2, a sequel to his highly popular and massy hit Vishwaroopam which was out in 2013.
But the wait seems to have been worth it, as Vikram has triggered a positive talk both among the critics and lay fans. The action entertainer, directed by the young and talented Lokesh Kanakaraj, who had previously helmed the enjoyable Master, is now taken to be a hit. Vikram, which is Kamal Haasan’s 232nd film, was also screened to a select audience during the recent Cannes Film Festival.
Now the talk is about when the film streaming on an OTT platform, and which one has snapped the rights for the same.
Vikram on Disney+ Hotstar
As is the norm these days, any big film will take at least a month to make it to the streaming platform. If the movie actually does well, its OTT streaming will be delayed even further. The pan-Indian hits like RRR, KGF Chapter 2 and Kashmir Files are good examples of that. And as Vikram is being talked up a lot, it will not make to any OTT platform by June.
But what we hear is that its satellite television and OTT rights have been snapped for Rs 200 crore, which is one of the largest amounts for a Tamil film.
Kamal Haasan, who is associated with the Star Network ---- he hosts the highly successful Tamil version of Bigg Boss on Star's Tamil channel Vijay. It is now being claimed that Star Network, which also owns Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform, has walked away with the small screen rights of the film. The official word is still to be out though.
Disney+ Hotstar will likely stream the movie from July.
Kamal's second coming
Incidentally, Kamal had acted in a movie with the same name Vikram in 1986. But the new one is said to have no other connection with the old film with the same title
The new Vikram, an action thriller, is produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, and apart from Kamal, also stars Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, Kalidas Jayaram, Narain and Arjun Das in supporting roles. The soundtrack and film score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with cinematography handled by Girish Gangadharan and editing by Philomin Raj.
The multi-faceted Kamal had cut down on his films --- even announced that he was quitting movies --- as he had taken the political plunge and floated his party Makkal Needhi Maiam. Though his party contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 2021 Tamil Nadu legislative elections, it couldn't secure even a single seat. The actor himself suffered defeat.
Though he has not folded his political pursuit, the three-time National Award winner for best acting seems to be back to films. And Vikram is seen as the wind that will balloon up his second coming.
