In an interview with The Hindu, actor Vikram said that the mysterious character named ‘Love’ in his next film Irumugan is neither gay nor transgender. “When you see the film, you’ll realise that Love, who plays a doctor, is neither gay nor a transgender. You wouldn’t want to slot him in any particular category,” he said.
The film’s teaser built suspense around the character by showing him in a gas mask, even as seemingly incongruous sultry music played in the background. In the trailer, the character takes off the mask and emerges as an effeminate person who wears nail polish, has long, grey hair, and wears make-up. At the audio launch of the film, director Anand Shankar said that Vikram had worked hard for weeks on his body language, especially a particular style of walking, to get the character right.
Vikram clarified in the interview that the film would break character stereotypes, “It’s just like an ‘A versus B’ clash. There’s no place in the film for me to exaggerate it, even when I say ‘Nuvvu Raja Nenu Rani’ in the trailer, it was just to get people curious. In fact, Love wears a lot of designer stuff from Armaani suits to shades to the handbag, whereas Akhilan is happy slipping into his shirt and jeans. The attempt was to break stereotypes from what we saw in films like Kanchana.“
When asked why the team revealed the character before the film’s release, he said it would give audiences time to connect with the character and know what to expect, “If audiences go to Inkokkadu without knowing who played the character, by the time they bond with it, the film is more or less done.”
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Irumugan has Vikram in dual roles – as a RAW officer Akhilan and the villain, Love. Set in present day Malaysia, the film follows Akhilan’s efforts to nab Love, who operates a fake medicine racket. The production of the film ran into several delays after changes in producers and the main cast.
Iru Mugan is produced by Shibu Thameens, with music by Harris Jayaraj and cinematography by RD Rajasekar. The film was slated for a 1 September release, but is likely to see a delayed release.