#30InspiringYearsOfVIKRAM: Five films Vikram inspired fans with his physical transformation

On this day, 30 years ago, actor Vikram made his onscreen debut as a lead actor with 'En Kadhal Kanmani' in 1990. The film was about a smoking addict who falls in love and how he manages to stop smoking and marry the girl. Over the span of his 30-year-long career, he has played so many different characters and portrayed drastically different personalities on the screen. When it comes to experimenting with looks and characters, very few do it better than Vikram in Kollywood. The star, fondly called Chiyaan by fans, has inspired the audience to a great extent with the physical transformations he undergoes for his roles in films. The actor is famous for undergoing drastic transformations for his roles, and is also labelled as ‘Chritain Bale of Tamil cinema’, for this aspect. Here's a look at five films in which he impressed fans and audiences with his looks and acting.

Dhill: Vikram first became popular with the romantic drama 'Sethu', and the charming actor was affectionately called as Chiyaan in the film. Interestingly, the first film to use the title in the credits was 'Dhill' directed by Dharani. The star stunned the audience with his physique in the film and, in fact, inspired youngsters to hit the gym with his lean and strong physique in the film, in which he plays an aspiring cop.

Dhool: A couple of years after 'Dhill', Vikram once again teamed up with Dharani for 'Dhool', which turned out to be a blockbuster hit. He was all beefed up for his role as a villager who heads to the city to close down the chemical factory that releases poisonous effluents into the drinking water source. Only someone like Chiyaan Vikram could pull off the physically contrasting roles in both the films.

Bheemaa: Like the title suggests, Vikram was a Bheem in the film directed by Linguswamy. His beefed up body was most talked about during the making of the film. Vikram had trained for three months with the help of former Mr. Tamil Nadu bodybuilding champion Rajendran for the part of Sekar. The first-look posters of Bheema, which released on Pongal 2006, took Kollywood by storm. Though the film didn't do well at the box office, his dedication towards his work was much appreciated.

I: One of the major changes in Vikram's physique was seen in Shankar's 'I' in 2015. This was the one film which perhaps sealed the tag of ‘Chritain Bale of Tamil cinema’ for his dedication towards his physical appearance. Vikram worked on the project for four long years undergoing various transformations for his looks in the movie. He played the role of a bodybuilder, a deformed man and a normal-looking model. He had apparently followed many different diets and workouts to get into the required shape and size. Fans were stunned to see all these body transformations within a single film.

Iru Mugan: In 2016, Vikram appeared buffed and bulked up in 'Iru Mugan' directed by Anand Shankar, for which he did a lot of weight lifting. Vikram played the dual role of Akilan, a special agent from India, and Love, a transgender evil mastermind. Like in most of his films, the physical attributes of the two characters were totally different from each other. Though we have seen a lot from him, the actor is not done yet. We are in for a treat in his upcoming films such as Cobra, Dhruva Natchathiram, Mahavir Karna and Ponniyin Selvan among others.