1. Anniyan
Seamlessly switching between different characters in the same frame — surely that’s got to be the litmus test for an actor? But Vikram passes it, and how. Shy and righteous Ramanujan, flamboyant charmer Remo, bloodthirsty vigilante Anniyan — Vikram straddles these triple roles with ease, transitioning through them in a split second, infusing each with life-and-blood.
It is a childhood trauma and his own inability to fight against injustice that triggers multiple personality disorder in Ramanujan. The soft-spoken, exasperatingly righteous lawyer can lecture strangers about corruption in the midst of swirling traffic, but gets tongue-tied when in the vicinity of his romantic interest, Nandini.
When Ramanujan lets his hair down — quite literally — he transitions into Anniyan, an enraged crusader with zero qualms about killing. The persona of smooth-talking Remo helps our hero to woo Nandini with flowers and song.
The pre-climax sequence where he unleashes his alter egos before a dumbfounded Prakash Raj, going back and forth between Ramanujan and Anniyan, encapsulates Vikram’s brilliance.
2. Ponniyin Selvan — I
There is a pre-interval stretch in part one of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus where Vikram’s Aditha Karikalan is having a meltdown. He flashes back to a searingly painful chapter in his life that changes him forever: As a teenager, he falls madly in love with Nandini and never recovers from her sudden disappearance, and subsequent reappearance as someone else’s wife and lover.
In abject misery, he recounts — in perfect classical Tamil — how losing her transformed him into an animal, a vanquisher who engaged in the goriest of battles, all to get over her. He even takes responsibility for Nandini’s transition into a scheming, vindictive woman out for revenge against his family.
Vikram internalises Aditha with such intensity that his heartache, helplessness and despair, become frighteningly tangible on screen.
3. Raavanan
Vikram plays Veeraiya with a certain duality. He is intent on exacting vengeance on those who caused his sister Vennila’s death. At the same time, behind his brusque exterior, is a man who has fallen in love with Raagini, the woman he abducted and has kept as a hostage.
Vikram brings to his portrayal of Veeraiya a simmering anger, ambivalence towards Raagini, and the conflicted psyche of a leader torn between the need for retaliation and the desires of his own heart.
In the Hindi version of the film, Vikram plays Raagini’s conniving husband, Inspector Dev, and the shift is smooth like butter.
4. Pithamagan
Chithan has grown up in a graveyard, burning corpses. He is seemingly autistic, and having grown up away from ‘civilised society’, is uneasy being around other people, and doesn’t know very much about ‘polite’ behaviour.
Despite his occasionally feral growls, physical clumsiness and inability to articulate feelings, Chithan understands loyalty. Vikram brings forth all the nuances of Chithan with astonishing deftness. Even in this largely non-verbal performance, the actor is able to evoke a multitude of emotions, with empathy foremost. The climactic stretch, where Chithan snaps out of his savage psychic chains and realises the enormity of a dear friend’s death, is Vikram at his finest.
5. Deiva Thirumagal
An actor needs to tread with caution when portraying an intellectually disabled character. Previously, Sreedevi (Moonam Pirai) and Urvashi (Kakka Thollayiram) have set an impossibly high bar with their nuanced, sensitive performances.
This otherwise weepy drama is salvaged by Vikram who dives into the psyche of Krishna, an adult who has the mental ability of a 5-year-old, with heartbreaking intensity. Be it his tender, adorable chemistry with Nila, their conversations in sign language, or the poignancy he exudes on screen, Vikram makes Deiva Thirumagal worth your time.
Honourable mentions:
Mahaan — Vikram plays father to his real-life son on screen, and aces his character’s emotional conflicts.
David — Vikram plays the eponymous protagonist, a fisherman secretly in love with his best friend’s fiancée.
Saamy — Vikram plays a newly appointed dare-devil cop in Tirunelveli, as loud as he is entertaining, with aplomb.
