I (film)

Theatrical poster

Directed by
Shankar

Produced by
V. Ravichandran
D. Ramesh Babu

Written by
Shankar
Subha

Starring
Vikram
Amy Jackson

Music by
A.R. Rahman

Cinematography
P. C. Sreeram

Edited by
Anthony

Production
company
Aascar Film

Distributed by
Aascar Film

Release dates
14 January 2015

Running time
188 minutes[1]

Country
India

Language
Tamil

Budget
1 billion (US$16 million)[2]

Box office
1.35 billion (US$21 million)(5 Days Collection)[3]
I [a](also known as Shankar's I ) is a 2015 Indian Tamil romantic thriller film
written and directed by Shankar and co-written by Subha. Produced and distribute
d by V. Ravichandran under his production company, Aascar Films, the film featur
es Vikram and Amy Jackson in lead roles while Suresh Gopi, Upen Patel, Santhanam
and Ramkumar Ganesan portray pivotal roles. The soundtrack and film score were
composed by A. R. Rahman. Production design was handled by T. Muthuraj. P. C. Sr
eeram was the film's cinematographer and editing was done by Anthony.
The visual effects were designed by V. Srinivas Mohan through Rising Sun Picture
s. Weta Workshop had worked on the digital and prosthetic make-up and background
arts for the film. The dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi are also titled I.[5
][6] Principal photography commenced on 15 July 2012. The filming lasted for two
years and eight months, during which shooting was done extensively in China.[7]
Further schedules were filmed in locations in Chennai, Bangkok, Jodhpur, Kodaik
anal, Pollachi, Bangalore and Mysore.

The film, released on 14 January 2015, tells the story of a body builder turned
super model, played by Vikram, who after being deformed, exacts revenge upon tho
se who turned him into a hunchback.[8] The film received mixed reviews, but went
on to perform well commercially, with critics praising Vikram's performance.[9]
[10][11]

4 Music
5 Release 5.1 Distribution
5.2 Marketing
5.3 Home media
6 Reception 6.1 Critical response
6.2 Box office
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
Plot
Lingesan (Vikram) is a bodybuilder from the suburbs of Chennai, whose main ambit
ion is to become Mr. India. With his effort, he wins the title of Mr. Tamil Nadu
which gives him entry to the Mr. India paegant. He has a huge crush on Diya (Am
y Jackson), a leading supermodel. Though he understands his status and holds no
hope of ever winning her love, fate brings them together when Diya's colleague a
nd popular model John (Upen Patel), who is also her co-star in many advertisemen
ts, blacklists her and gets all her advertisement film contracts cancelled after
she constantly refuses to have sex with him. Diya decides to replace John with
Lingesan as her co-star for her next advertisement film to save her career. Ling
esan agrees, sacrificing his Mr. India dreams in the process.
Lingesan is given a makeover by Diya's stylist, a transgender woman named Osma J
asmine (Ojas Rajani), and is rechristened as Lee. The shoot initially does not g
o well, as Lingesan is shy and awkward around Diya. Diya pretends to fall in lov
e with Lingesan on her director's advice so that he would loosen up and perform
better during the shoot. This works wonders and gradually both of them take the
modelling world by storm as the lead pair. As time passes, she reciprocates Ling
esan's love for her and they soon get engaged. Meanwhile, Osma too falls in love
with Lingesan, who turns down her advances.
In this entire journey, Lingesan makes many enemies. These enemies include John,
whose modelling career was ruined because of Lingesan's rising popularity, Osma
, who is determined to avenge Lingesan's rejection of her, a wealthy industriali
st Indra Kumar (Ramkumar Ganesan), whose company suffered financial and image lo
sses when Lingesan refused to endorse the company's soft drink because it was re
ported to have pesticides, and another bodybuilder Ravi (M. Kamaraj), who was al
so a contender for the Mr. Tamil Nadu title. These four people conspire to destr
oy Lingesan's fame and modelling career.
A couple of days before his wedding, Lingesan starts to realise that he is slowl
y deforming with hair and teeth loss and a skin condition. He consults his frien
d Dr. Vasudevan (Suresh Gopi), who is also the guardian of Diya's family. Vasude
van does his blood work and informs him that he is suffering from a rare genetic
disease which results in premature ageing and has no cure, so he will die soon.
Lingesan is mortified on hearing this, and in a short span of time, his conditi
on worsens, with his face and body deforming, eventually becoming a hunchback. I
n his current condition, Lingesan decides to disappear from public life and also

from Diya's life by faking his death in a car accident. Only his close friend B
abu (Santhanam) and Vasudevan know that he is alive. Lingesan asks Vasudevan to
marry Diya as he is the only person who will be able to understand Diya's past a
nd present situation. Vasudevan agrees and the wedding is fixed.
On the night before the marriage, Lingesan comes to know from another doctor tha
t he is not suffering from an incurable genetic disease, but is suffering from a
disease called H4N2 influenza. The virus which causes the disease is called the
"I" virus and can only be transmitted by injection. Lingesan finds out that Joh
n, Osma, Indra Kumar, Ravi and, to his utter shock, Vasudevan, are responsible f
or injecting the virus into his body. Vasudevan had an insatiable lust on Diya s
ince she was a teenager and could not bear the fact that she chose Lingesan over
him. As a result, he sided with Lingesan's enemies and planned the entire opera
tion to get Lingesan injected with the I virus. An enraged and betrayed Lingesan
abducts Diya on her wedding day and keeps her safely in an old house.
Lingesan, with the help of Babu, then takes revenge on all those who had brought
him to his current state by deforming them. He first immolates Ravi, who suffer
s severe burns. He then prepares a paste which Osma applies on her body, causing
her body to sprout huge growths of hair. Next, he subjects Indra Kumar to bee s
tings all over his body. He fights John over a moving train and gets him electro
cuted. Finally, he gets Vasudevan to unwittingly inject a deadly virus on himsel
f, causing his whole body to swell up. After he has avenged those who deformed h
im, Lingesan reveals his present condition to Diya, who, though initially taken
aback, still loves him in spite of his deformity. They decide to live a secluded
life together. Lingesan undergoes ayurvedic treatment for his condition and soo
n returns to his normal self.