 After two years of discussions , Vikram began a film under the direction of Selvaraghavan in a project dubbed by the media as <unk> . The film began shoot and completed a schedule by early 2010 in the Himalayas with Swati Reddy appearing as the female lead . However , the film was reported to be momentarily shelved and subsequently never took off again after the producer <unk> Ramesh walked out . Vikram then agreed terms to feature in Vikram Kumar 's 24 produced by Mohan Natarajan , with Ileana D 'Cruz signed on to play the female lead role . The film progressed briefly with shots being canned in caves , before the director was ousted from the project , cancelling the film . Vikram then also shot briefly for a third successive shelved project directed by <unk> Pandian for the same producer , featuring him in the role of an investigative cop ; however the film failed to progress and instead Natarajan financed Vikram 's next . His 2011 release , Deiva Thirumagal directed by A. L. Vijay , saw Vikram portray a father with a developmental disability having the mental maturity of a seven @-@ year @-@ old . To prepare for the role , Vikram visited homes for the mentally challenged such as Vidya Sagar and Vidya Sudha for a month , watching their body language and taking notes . He also communicated with the patients , to pick up the nuances of people with impaired speech . Vikram has since gone on to describe his role as Krishna as the best character he has ever portrayed . The film which also featured Sara Arjun , Anushka Shetty and Amala Paul in supporting roles , opened to predominantly positive reviews from critics and enjoyed commercial success at the box office . The reviewer from The Deccan Chronicle described that the film was " Vikram ’ s show all the way " and that " his rendition of a mentally @-@ challenged man trying to cope with the everyday realities of raising a child is a work of art " , praising his " fiery , complex performance as one of the more viciously honest depictions of mental illness cinema has seen " . Similarly another critic described that the on @-@ screen chemistry between Vikram and his daughter , played by Sara Arjun , is " magic " and their performances " are sure to leave a lump in your throat " . The critic from The Hindu praised the film and Vikram 's performance but analysed that " a problem arises only when you stop looking at Krishna as a character , and begin to see him as Vikram , the hero " and that Vikram should have " underplayed a little here and there and it would have worked better " . However Vikram once again completed a sweep of the top acting awards that year , with further recognition at the Vijay and Filmfare Awards . 
