25 Years of Shankar: Five best films of the James Cameron of Indian cinema

Shankar is arguably one of the biggest filmmakers we have right now. Making his debut with the social-drama ‘Gentleman’, Shankar is often regarded as the James Cameron of Indian cinema, especially for his scale and visual ethics. In fact, Shankar is one among the few filmmakers who rely on visual storytelling. As Shankar celebrates 25 years in the industry, we give you five best films of the director you need to watch.

Shankar and Kamal Haasan collaborated for the vigilante-thriller ‘Indian’ in 1990, which saw Haasan playing a freedom fighter Senapathi, which was written after Subhash Chandra Bose. ‘Indian’ talked about a freedom fighter’s anguish over the corrupt system in India and how he tries to do away corruption. Kamal Haasan played dual roles - Senapathi and his son Chandru. Made on a lavish budget, ‘Indian’ got rave reviews from critics, who appreciated the subject and Haasan’s performance. In fact, Haasan won his third National Award for Best Actor. ‘Indian’ opened to phenomenal response and became a monstrous hit at the box office. In fact, ‘Indian’ became the first Tamil film to have been a blockbuster in Hindi, Telugu and Kannada languages. Nearly after 20 years, Kamal Haasan and Shankar are now coming together for ‘Indian 2’, which is reported to be an out-and-out political film.

Known for his breathtaking visuals, Shankar did not disappoint his audience in ‘Jeans’, a romantic comedy, which was touted to be the most expensive film back then. Set in America, the film follows the story of twins Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy (played by Prashanth). When the elder brother Visu falls in love with Madhumitha (Aishwarya), his dad Nachiappan (Nasser) opposes the marriage. The rest of the film is about how Visu convinces his dad for the wedding. More than the film, ‘Jeans’ is widely popular for its chartbuster album by AR Rahman. After ‘Indian’, this film became the second film of Shankar to have been submitted for the Academy Awards. Even after all these years, ‘Jeans’ remains to be one of the best rom-coms in Tamil cinema. Upon release, ‘Jeans’ went on to become one of the biggest hits.

After pitching the idea to many actors, Shankar and Arjun Sarja once again worked together in ‘Mudhalvan’, which became one of the biggest hits in Arjun’s career. The film is about a journalist Pugazhendhi, who accepts the challenge of serving as a chief minister for a day. And the rest of the story is about what happens to his personal and professional life. Initially, Shankar wanted to somehow rope in Rajinikanth to play the lead role. However, it was Arjun Sarja who gave a stellar performance in the lead. On the other hand, Raghuvaran was equally appreciated for his role as a cunning chief minister. Written by famous writer Sujatha, ‘Mudhalvan’ turned out to be a blockbuster success at the box office and was remade in several languages. The film is still remembered for the interview scene featuring Arjun and Raghuvaran.

Vikram is one of the few actors who provides justification to the character he plays on screen. He teamed up with Shankar for the first time in ‘Anniyan’, which follows the story of an honest lawyer, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. Vikram’s portrayal of the three personalities -- Ambi, a lawyer, Remo, a fashion model and a vigilante killer Anniyan won the hearts of the audience and rightly so. Even after all these years, the film is still remembered for the scene where Vikram is interrogated by Prakash Raj. ‘Anniyan’, which released in 2005, opened to a terrific response across the state and became an out-and-out money spinner at the box office. Upon release, it was highly praised for its breathtaking action sequences and visually-pleasing songs. ‘Anniyan’ also won the National Award for Best Special Effects that year.

Following the commercial success of ‘Sivaji’ in 2007, Shankar and Rajinikanth collaborated once again for the extravagant sci-fi thriller ‘Enthiran’. Back then, it was the most expensive Indian film ever made and was made on a lavish budget of over Rs 150 crore. ‘Enthiran’ tells the story of the struggle of scientist Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth) who tries to control his creation -- an android Robot named Chitti (also Rajinikanth), who has the ability to exhibit human emotions. Things turn nasty when Chitti falls in love with Vaseegaran’s girlfriend Sana (Aishwarya Rai). Like most of Rajinikanth’s film, ‘Enthiran’ was nothing short of a festival for his fans and it opened to a fantabulous opening at the box office. Despite mixed reviews from critics, it did a business close to Rs 250 crore at the worldwide box-office.