Raaj Kamal Films International’s Vikram Hit List (dubbed from the Tamil film of the same name; UA) is an action film.
Karnan alias Vikram’s (Kamal Haasan) son, Prapanchan (Kalidas Jayaram), who works for the NCB, has been murdered. Vikram swears revenge but he has to first understand who has killed him and why. Here, drug lord Santhanam is disturbed because an illegal consignment of drugs was intercepted by the police. That huge consignment would have catapulted him to an enviable position in the underworld. Therefore, he has to lay his hands on the consignment.
Meanwhile, a group of masked men are on a killing spree in Madras. Two high-ranking police officers are murdered by the masked men. Jose, chief of the Madras City Police Department, assigns Amar (Fahadh Faasil) to lead a black-ops team to begin investigations into the murders by the masked men. Amar starts digging into Karnan/Vikram’s life and realises that he is actually thirsting for Santhanam’s blood. Why is Karnan after Santhanam and his gang?
Lokesh Kanagaraj has written a story and screenplay which are devoid of novelty. At the end of the day, it is a vendetta drama. The pace is slow at places, when it, therefore, gets boring. The action scenes are fast-paced but it must be added, there is an excess of violence. Dialogues are ordinary.
Kamal Haasan does an excellent job as Karnan/Vikram. He shines in action and stunts as also performance-oriented scenes. His dance is graceful. Vijay Sethupathi is superb as Santhanam. His acting and action/stunts are praiseworthy. Fahadh Faasil is first-rate in the role of Amar. Narain (as police inspector Bejoy) is effective. Chemban Vinod Jose (as police chief Jose) leaves a mark. Suriya looks handsome in a cameo appearance as Rolex and adds star value. Kalidas Jayaram (as Prapanchan), Arjun Das (as Anbu), Harish Uthaman (as Adaikalam), Gayathrie Shankar (as Gayathri Amar), Shivani Narayanan (as Santhanam’s wife), G. Marimuthu, Ramesh Thilak, Aruldoss, Sampath Ram, Hareesh Peradi (as Stephen Raj) and the others lend average support.
Lokesh Kanagaraj’s direction is fair. Anirudh Ravichander’s music is okay. Sandy’s choreography is alright. Background music is quite appealing. Girish Gangadharan’s camerawork is of a fine standard. Anbariv’s action and stunts afford thrill. N. Satheesh Kumar’s art direction is good. Philomin Raj’s editing should’ve been sharper. Dubbing is good.
On the whole, Vikram Hit List is too ordinary to make a mark with the Hindi film-going audience. It will be forgotten before long.
Released on 3-6-’22 at Inox (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was terribly poor everywhere.