 Vikram then signed up for Bheema in October 2005 , with the film facing severe delays and only releasing in January 2008 . The film saw him portray Sekhar , who grows up idolizing the gangster played by Prakash Raj , and Vikram revealed that he approached the film like an actor even though the film 's script was written " for a star " . Upon release , the film gained mixed reviews though reviewers praised Vikram 's performance with a critic claiming that " Vikram breathes life into the film " , " he looks sensational with his toned body , killer looks unarguably delivers yet another outstanding performance of his career " and to " see the film only for him " . Similarly the review from The Hindu was critical of the excessive violence and mentioned that " as narration gives way after a point , Vikram can only appear helpless " . His next release , Kanthaswamy , directed by Susi Ganesan and also featuring Shriya Saran , became the first superhero film in Tamil cinema with Vikram being featured as a vigilante dressed as an anthropomorphic rooster , Kokorako and CBI Officer . Kanthaswamy became Vikram 's most expensive production beating Anniyan , with the film boasting of high production values of having an innovative pre @-@ launch trailer and with scenes shot in Italy and Mexico . The film earned a mixed response from critics with the reviewer from Sify claiming that the film " strikes a fine balance between style and substance " and proceeding to state that " Vikram is mesmerizing and has given an extra dimension to the characters he plays in the film and steers it to the winning post " , suggesting that " there are very few people in Indian cinema who can do the larger @-@ than @-@ life fantasy character as easily as Vikram " . Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu labelled the film as " slow death " , claiming that " as an actor , Vikram has nothing to do " . The film took a strong opening with a collection of Rs . 37 crore , including Rs . 16 crore in Tamil Nadu , at the box @-@ office in the opening week of its international release . The film subsequently went on to become one of the most profitable films of the year and ran in theaters for over one hundred days . 
