TRIVIA 1Superstar Rajinikanth was the first to hear the idea of I from director Shankar, way back in 1996, following the release of the latter's film, Hindustani/Indian. Skeptical about the subject, Rajinikanth refused it and did two other films with Shankar, Sivaji- The Boss and Robot/Enthiran.
2Vikram essays three avatars in the sci-fi romantic thriller - a body builder, a hunchback and a werewolf.
3Vikram's bodybuilder character considers Arnold Schwarzenegger his role model. His hairstyle is also inspired by the Hollywood action hero, who attended I's audio launch in Chennai last year.
4Hollywood VFX and Props specialist Richard Taylor's team that worked on The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, the hobbit and many others, has created the special effects and props for this film at Peter Jackson's company, Weta Workshop.
5Additional prosthetic make-up for the film was done by Dominie Till and Christien Tinsley, who worked on Amitabh Bachchan's 'Auro' look in Paa.
6The costumes have been designed by Mary E Vogt, credited with Men In Black series and Batman Returns among many others.
7This is the tenth time legendary composer A R Rahman is collaborating with the techwiz director Shankar.
8The song 'Issaq Taari', said to be one of the most expensive songs in Indian cinema, sees heroine Amy Jackson converting into a mobile phone, a robot, a bubble, bike and even a pair of dumbbells.
9Chinese martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who has worked on films like Snake In The Eagle's Shadow, Drunken Master, The Matrix Trilogy and Kill Bill Vol I and II among others, had designed the action for I.
10Asin and Priyanka Chopra were reportedly considered to play Vikram's leading lady. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who had signed on, opted out citing date issues. Eventually, Amy Jackson signed up for the part.
11'Azhagan' and 'Aanazhagan' were the alternate titles, but since they were already used, Shankar decided that a single alphabet would be the title. Since I also meant beauty and explained the character of the protagonist, the alphabet was finalised as the title.
12Vikram also went bald for the film as he reportedly felt that would make changing his looks in the film easier.
13The hunchback character was the most difficult to sketch and the look was created by Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop.
14The shooting began with a two-month spell in Chennai in July 2012, followed by a 50-day schedule in nine locations in China's Hunan province. The patchwork shoot and dubbing was completed in September 2014.
15Real cyclists of China were used for a cycle fight sequence picturised in the northern Hunan province.
16For the song, 'Pookkalae Sattru Oyivedungal', Vikram and Amy shot in the scenic locales of Red Seabeach in Panjin and Li river in Guilin.
17One song required Vikram to wear bulky costumes. To be able to carry such heavy outfits, the actor had to gain weight. At the time of shooting, he weighed 110 kilos.
18I releases in India in four languages, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
19A sneak preview of the teaser and the song 'Ennodu Nee Irundhaal' was hosted for the critics last August. Interestingly, the teaser carried a dummy music score that was not composed by AR. Rahman.
20The complete teaser trailer, lacking decipher ability, was leaked on the internet on 2 September 2014. The person who leaked it reportedly even informed the team and challenged them to take action against him. After further inquiries, it was revealed that the culprit broke into producer V Ravichandran's office during the night and copied the teaser. However, Ravichandran refused to make changes to the leaked teaser, and planned to release it as per the original schedule.
21Ravichandran earlier had stated that the film would be releasing on October 23, 2014. But the release was pushed due to extensive post-production.
22Apart from Hindi, the film is also being dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. Vikram used to shuttle between Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad to dub in these languages everyday.
23It used to take almost 4-5 hours to complete Vikram's make over for a particular character in the film.
24I is the first Indian movie to be associated with Weta Workshop. This special effects company is based in New Zealand.
GOOFS 1Dr Vasudevan is shown as the only doctor available and is an expert on everything – from guiding body-builders in the gym to diagnosing Lingesan's serious condition.
2Lingesan is rich as a supermodel but when he gets infected, just before his wedding, he runs straight to Dr Vasudevan and does not seek second opinion from other doctors before giving up on his life.
3When Lingesan's friend poses as a reporter to check on the injured ad filmmaker, stylist and weight-lifter, he easily sneaks into their hospital wards with an I-card which is not checked properly by anyone.
4Indra Kumar is very rich but does not have any security at his farmhouse and Lingesan easily ventures inside with his ice-cream cart and attacks him. He even steals his gun without being caught by the security guards.
5When Indra Kumar is threatened by Lingesan near the poolside before the bee-attack, he could have easily saved himself by jumping into the water. But he simply waits to be attacked by the bees.
6Lee and Diya shoot for an advertisement film for I Perfumes in China for such an extensive period. They could have wrapped up a feature film in that duration.
7The flashback and flash-forward story telling is very confusing. For instance, when the hunchback takes revenge on the make up artist, one cannot tell whether the sequence is happening in India or China.
8Showing Amy in a school uniform doesn't help in passing her off as a 10-year-old. She looks young but definitely cannot pass off as being 10.
9Why does Amy's mother use the local doctor for her plumbing complaints? Ok, he is the handyman of the family. Yet, it's a bit much to say that he will make himself available for every household chore.
10Upen Patel, a super model whose contracts are signed in advance, accepts Rs. 6000/-as his fee for endorsing a local product that too after the job is done. This never happens in the advertising world. Money is always decided before the shooting of the ad film is done.
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SEE ALSO Spoiler alert! Please do not read the following plot summary if you have not seen the film, especially since the film is a crime thriller.
Plot Summary:
Lingesan (Vikram), a deformed hunchback who was once a body builder and a handsome model, seeks revenge on another male model who is responsible for ruining his life.
His story unfolds in a small town in Tamil Nadu. Lingesan is the local body-building champion. He gets crowned Mr Tamil Nadu. He ends up angering another gym guy called Ravi. The two even break into a fight, where Lingesan beats him hands down. Ravi therefore vows revenge.
On the personal front, Lingesan's friend Babu (Santhanam) and his parents are aware that he is crazy about super-model Diya (Amy Jackson). In fact, they tease him because he buys all the products -- from sanitary napkins to ladies night-dresses just because Diya endorses them.
Lingesan, who lands small commercials for health products, one day, gets a chance to model with Diya. It so happens that Diya, who was earlier a hit pair with another super-model John (Upen Patel), is fed up of his flirtatious ways. She wants to get rid of John, so she befriends Lingesan and makes him her new ad-hero. The two of them travel to China to shoot for a perfume advertisement. Over there, they discover feelings for one another. While Lingesan actually admires Diya, she pretends to love him. After a small misunderstanding, they truly fall in love with one another. However, there is friction because a gay make-up artiste also falls in love with Lingesan, who is now called Lee.
When Lee refuses to reciprocate, the gay guy is annoyed. Back in India Lee becomes the reigning male super model and John wants to destroy him. An advertising boss also hates Lee because he is too honest and principled and refuses to do a soft-drink commercial for him (ad boss).
All the guys who hate Lee, with the help of a local doctor, inject him with the Influenza virus. This virus is so deadly that Lee starts to lose his hair and teeth. He also develops boils all over his body and becomes a hunchback. Since he is deformed, he distances himself from Diya though he had earlier promised to marry her. He is afraid of her rejection, especially since he is now a hunchback.
By a strange twist of fate, Lee is forced to kidnap Diya and take her to a hideout. Even while she is trying to figure out why this hunchback has kidnapped her, Lee keeps stepping out of his secret place and taking revenge on the men who made his life a living hell.
While trying to escape from the ugly deformed man's clutches, Diya discovers Lee's phone in his pocket. She then realises that the hunchback is actually Lingesan, her beau, who has been wrecked by the bad guys. She resolves to stick to her love and takes Lee with her to a beautiful home that they made together. Out there Diya slowly nurses him back to his original physical form and they live happily ever after.
(Do not proceed. Stop reading the plot summary right now if you don't want the crucial climax to be revealed)
Spoiler ahead - (Climax)
The doctor in the film, Vasudev (Suresh Gopi) who is Lee's benefactor is also the family doctor for Diya and her mother. This guy is two-faced; a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He is a pervert who is fantasizing about young Diya and hopes to marry her someday. While he doesn't let his secret feelings out till after the interval, he is the one who gives Lee the I (influenza) virus injection that makes him a deformed creature. The doctor is jealous because Lee and Diya are growing close. Of course, Lee takes revenge on all the five men who made his life a living hell, turn by turn. He sets the bodybuilder on fire; he ensures John is electrocuted in a fight on the train top; he mixes some hair-growing hormones in the gay make-up guy's beauty cream; he sets a beehive loose on the advertising guru after covering him with honey so that he gets stung; finally he injects the doctor with the same I virus and deforms him.
