Vikram is a gift from Kamal Haasan's fanboy, says Lokesh Kanagaraj

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan's Vikram has released today to packed houses and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the film has had a grand opening. The film's director, Lokesh Kanagaraj, who is a self-confessed fan of Kamal Haasan, has called the film a gift from a fanboy.

In an emotional letter released previous evening, Lokesh wrote, "This is the most emotional I've ever felt before the release of my film. As I can remember, ever since I was a kid, I loved Ulaganayagan the most. This is a surreal experience for me, that I am directing a film in his honour.

I thank all the kind souls who made this possible. It has been 18 months since I started working on Vikram. As a team, we have shed blood and sweat (quite literally) for this film in order to entertain you, our audiences, and to celebrate One Man, the pride of our Nation, Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan.

It's a great honour to have the opportunity to direct you, sir. The film is a gift to you from a fanboy! I will cherish these moments foreever," said the note.

Interestingly, Lokesh also got the opportunity to turn makeup man for his matinee idol. In an interview with Galatta, the filmmaker had said that Kamal Haasan was interested in doing his own make-up, and that it had always puzzled him. Kamal Haasan then explained to Lokesh, the story behind it. "For Vikram, we had to apply blood as part of the make-up. I asked him if he wanted me to do this look for him and he said 'yes'. The process took me around 30 minutes. After seeing it, he asked who was responsible for maintaining the consistency of the makeup. I told him that if he is okay with it, I will handle it from now on. As a result, I was the first director to do the make-up for Kamal Haasan. In fact, I was his make-up artist for 32 days!”

Lokesh went on to reveal how Kamal Haasan had signed the project, Vikram, in the look of the octogenarian Senapathy character from sequel to Indian, Indian 2. “As a fanboy, I always yearned to get an autograph from him. To see him come in the look of Indian thatha and sign the agreement as producer, I can’t express it in words," he was quoted saying in The Hindustan Times. After the release of Vikram, Kamal Haasan is expected to resume shoot of Indian 2.