Birthday Special: S. Shankar, vigilantism, and grandeur

S Shankar is often referred to as a visionary filmmaker Every filmmaker has a vision without which his or her cinema wonrsquot exist Shankarrsquos vision is comparably grander in its canvas The power of the imagination is unprecedented and the budget at the disposal is enormous and enviable His 2018rsquos juggernaut lsquo20rsquo is the most expensive film in Indian history made at the historic cost of over Rs 534 croreBlending realism and fiction with a dash of some spectacular visual effects Shankarrsquos brand of cinema is both an eyeopener and an entertainer His stories are you wish were true for their themes and their towering characters and canvas For all the personal consumption of his films what has stayed constant is the relentless rooting for the central character He has to be wronged by the system let down by society and a vigilante is born out of challenging circumstancesIn 1996rsquos lsquoHindustanirsquo lsquoIndianrsquo in Tamil starring Kamal Haasan in a double role the filmmaker gave the Universal Hero two roles poles apart in personalities The father was a freedom fighter and driven by uprightness and justice The son is crafty and manipulative giving his greed the excuse for practicality Itrsquos a solid clash of ideology and generation not before the father and the fighter has eliminated some corrupt officials rotting the country The finale could be reminiscent of lsquoShaktirsquo or even lsquoMother Indiarsquo Shankarrsquos version is the first step towards his obsession with reforming the nation only through stories as a storytellerIn Anil Kapoorrsquos rsquoNayak The Real Herorsquo that has a cult following now and was unfairly and unknowingly ignored in 2001 the hero named Shivaji Rao was a common man a cameraman who chances upon an opportunity to interview the Chief Minister of Maharashtra This 14minute interview has more memes than the Hera Pheri franchise combined The reluctance to take on burning and crucial questions the discomforting silence that follows the glass of water it all came back again in real When the interviewee becomes the CM for one dayrsquo lsquoNayakrsquo explodes in its narrativeThe climax is debatable a common man who becomes a politician who becomes a vigilante becomes a politician again only distraught and disgusted at the transformation Hersquos pacified by his secretary which establishes that the means may have been wrong it was all for the reformation of the state Shivaji Rao was truly The Real HeroOne of Shankarrsquos most successful films in cinemas and on television is Vikramrsquos lsquoAnniyanrsquo dubbed as lsquoAparachit The Strangerrsquo in Hindi The filmmakerrsquos route towards vigilantism gets longer and bolder with this action thriller Vikram is Ambi a meek lawyer with an OCD for perfection He hates indiscipline and despises anyone who breaks the law Everyone knows what happens when injustice prevails before his eyes His distress over unlawfulness leads to a split personality that creates a monster called Anniyan Remo is birthed out of a heartbreakVikram carries three roles in one body and one film all with perfection and precision just like how Ambi would want Shankarrsquos cinema proves a pen may not be mightier than the sword always At times a sword would be the only way outItrsquos hard not to talk about lsquoRobotrsquo and lsquo20rsquo together since the filmmaker created a franchise out of a fascinating character In the first film a machine falls in love with its creatorrsquos girlfriend giving us a unique love triangle brimming with audacity and imaginative effects The action in the climax should thank its lucky stars it could see the reactions on the big screen Sitting at home amid the pandemic consuming this adventure drama on mobiles and televisions would mar its juiciness and enormityIn the sequel the machine returned to team up with its master to battle a monster who was again a vigilante wronged by society and let down by the system Shankar used mobile phones to shoot morbid deaths that only create fear and panic for what we cannot imagine to stay without Akshay Kumarrsquos body is comprised of multiple cell phones continuously displaying pictures and videos of birds that died due to radiations from cell phone towers lsquo20rsquo wasnrsquot as engrossing and shamelessly entertaining as its prequel the filmmaker showed his vision knew no boundsHersquos now coming up with lsquoIndian 2rsquo and the remake of lsquoAnniyanrsquo with Ranveer Singh and Kiara Advani Which film are you more excited about And how many times did you read the word vigilante in this articleAlso Read Watch behindthescenes footage of Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumars 20