'Iru Mugan': Amid talk of delayed release, buzz around Vikram's sci-fi thriller grows

Vikram is a back with a bang. The teaser of his new film Iru Mugan — directed by the young Anand Shankar — has been making waves for its slick look. Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi, who unveiled the film’s teaser at the recently concluded SIIMA Awards in Singapore said that Vikram looks terrific in the new role while the film itself looks electrifying. [caption id=“attachment_2891812” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vikram and Nayanthara in ‘Iru Mugan’[/caption] Iru Mugan (meaning ’two-faced’) is said to be a sci-fi espionage thriller in which Vikram plays the role of a RAW agent on a mission that takes him to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and finally to Kashmir. The plot of the film has been kept under wraps, though the teaser gives hints that Vikram is playing a dual role — as a RAW agent, and a boxer. The buzz is that Vikram is playing both the hero and the villain in the film, which also has top actors like Nayanthara and Nithya Menen as heroines with Harris Jayaraj providing the music. Vikram is paired for the first time with Nayanthara in this film, and some real cool stills showing the lead pair on a beach in Bali has helped garner even more buzz around this film produced by Shibu Thameens. It is said to be a big budget film costing around Rs 60 crore, and (its distribution rights) in most areas are already sold out. Anand Shankar, the director of the film, said, “Iru Mugan is an action packed, racy sci-fi thriller set against an espionage milieu. Vikram is awesome in the film, and he has a new look which can be seen in the teaser of the film. The entire shoot of the film is over and right now we are in the post-production stage.” A 25-second song teaser titled ‘Halena’ releases this Saturday (16 July) and it will be followed by a big audio launch in the first week of August. Vikram’s last release was Shankar’s I (2015), which was a super hit. The highlight of Iru Mugan is said to be the strong negative character Vikram plays — and whenever the actor has portrayed characters with a negative steak (such as in Shankar’s Anniyan and I), it has worked at the box-office. Iru Mugan will have also a Telugu version titled Inkokkadu. Initially the film was slated as a summer 2016 release. Now the latest trade talk is that both the versions are getting ready for a Vinayaka Chathurthi-Onam weekend release in the first week of September.