Vikram recalls his play being booed for 15 minutes straight: ‘That same night, I met with an accident’

During his appearance on IMDb’s Icons Only segment, Vikram said, “When I was in college, I had gone to do a play called Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer. We started off with people booing us because the whole play was in darkness. The whole stage was in darkness and when the lights came on, it’s like the lights went off and then we started walking around in the darkness. For the first 10-15 minutes, the play’s in darkness. So we were booed and then, after the 15th minute, half the audience started saying ‘shhh,’ while the other half continued booing. And then they also started getting involved, began laughing and it became such a huge hit. We were so happy.”

“Later that very night, I met with an accident and I was bedridden for three years. I had 23 surgeries. The doctor said you’ll never be able to walk again, but I had this dream of becoming an actor. The doctor said I won’t be able to walk, but I decided to run. So I tried swimming and everything. I was in crutches for a year. I got back only because of my love for cinema and acting. I have always believed that if you make your hobby your profession, you won’t have to ‘work’ one day in your life. That’s exactly what I’m doing: I’m not working, I’m just enjoying every minute of my life on this planet,” he added.

Known for his versatility and willingness to drastically transform his body for roles, Vikram has also spoken about the severe toll these changes have taken. In an interview with Pinkvilla, he revealed that some of these transformations came dangerously close to causing permanent damage to his body. “When I did Kasi, I couldn’t see for two to three months because I had my eye lids up all the time. I was at the risk of getting a squint eye. Then when I did ‘I’ I did drastic changes. My weight got down to 52 kg at the that time from 86 kg. I wanted to get down to 50 kg but my doctor said, ‘Go easy let’s not get excited for this because I can see perimeters changing a bit and if main organ fails then it may be a problem, we don’t know how to revive you.’ Then I stopped,” he said.

Vikram is currently enjoying the success of his latest film Thangalaan, directed by Pa Ranjith. The action-adventure has grossed over Rs 100 crore globally and has been widely praised, with Vikram’s performance earning significant acclaim.