So, did the hype kill I?

Despite a beating from critics, actor Vikram is happy with his latest, I, a movie that’s on its way to the Rs 100-crore mark, apparently. In fact, the veteran star is unfazed by all that criticism.

“All I’m bothered about is whether people are liking it or not. And I’ve got to know that it has been close to a week and it’s still running housefull,” Vikram said at a promotional press conference in the city days after the movie’s release. Co-star Amy Jackson was also present at the presser.

The actor actually blames the hype for the “disappointment”.

“There was so much of hype surrounding I... if there is hype, there will also be expectations. And you can’t please everybody. Some will like your movie, some won’t critics have a different view and the audience has a different view. People are still struggling to get tickets... the movie has been breaking records.”

Throughout the interview, Vikram kept stressing on the movie breaking various records, but when quizzed about what records it has really broken, the actor’s claims derailed.

“My phone has the records, I’ll tell you in a while.” And then he quickly came up with a number from Kerala. “It was released in the highest number of theatres (225) in Kerala.”

The star adds that he was confident of the audience reaction down South but was sceptical about the Bollywood dubbing. “We had no hopes pinned on the Bollywood release, since nobody knows me up North. But I was surprised to see 75 per cent openings.”

The actor spoke again of his intense make-up and exercise regime for the story.

“The director told me that he could manage through prosthetics, but I wanted to lose weight for the role. I shed weight and reached 56 kg, and wanted to reach 50. But my doctor warned me against it. The whole experience was amazing and a lot of hard work was put in.”

He adds, “Three hours of gym in the morning, followed by 15 km cycling, which was again followed by three hours of gym at night this was my fitness schedule. I used to survive on apples, egg whites, boiled vegetables, juice etc.”

Talking about the transgender community, who were upset by the way they have been portrayed in the movie, Vikram said, “The role was not demeaning. That person fell in love with me, but I was in love with Amy, so I couldn’t reciprocate the same. That’s all. If there was a doctor doing the role, would you have said that we are demeaning all doctors?”

Before signing off, Vikram informed that the movie was also releasing in China.