Gautham Menon speaks on Dhruva Natchathiram, and on producing love stories
Most heroes are opting for action films to improve their pan-India reach, says the ace filmmaker; he also talks about working with Vikram and Harris Jayaraj
It has been a long frustrating wait for Tamil cinema's stylish filmmaker Gautham Menon. However, the director's much-delayed spy action thriller Dhruva Natchathiram is all set to finally hit theatres on November 24.
On the eve of the release, the director, who admitted he took up acting to fund this movie which was mired in financial trouble for the past five years, appeared calm and composed. Amid all the frenzy over the release, Menon spoke to select media houses including The Federal. Excerpts:
On Dhruva Natchathiram being yet another action thriller like Vikram and Pathaan
"This was not intended. As the film got delayed, a few films in the same genre were released," said Menon. However, the director was quick to point out that Dhruva Natchathiram's core theme is different from the rest of the recently released spy thrillers.
In fact, he even chopped off a scene that seemed similar to a sequence in Vikram. "Dhruva Natchathiram had a sequence similar to Kamal sir's squad in Vikram gets introduced, but I had to drop in the edit," he confessed.
Also, Menon, who has worked with director/writer Shridhar Raghavan in Yennai Arindhaal, had a word with him if Dhruva Natchathiram was similar to Shah Rukh Khan's spy drama, Pathaan. Luckily, Raghavan, who had written the screenplay for Pathaan based on Siddarth Anand's story, assured him that there was no similarity.
Dhruva Natchathiram is all about a 12-member super spy team who help the country when it is under threat. Sometimes, they make money with some other private operations as well but largely, they work for the country. Pathaan too is about a secret spy team who work behind the scenes to save the country from a biological attack.
On Dhruva Natchathiram sequels with or without Vikram
It is well-known fact that actor Vikram has been terribly miffed with the delay in the release of the film and has not even tweeted about the release.
However, Menon revealed that when he narrated the script to Vikram, he had told him the film would have multiple parts with or without him. "It would depend on his availability and whether he liked the script or not. However, we have named the first part Yuddha Kaandam," he said.
Dhruva Natchathiram was originally written for Suriya, added Menon, but the actor had some doubts and they mutually parted ways. However, they did come together for an episode in Netflix series Navarasa.
Then, during a casual chat with Vikram on the fate of the Dhruva Natchathiram script, Menon narrated the gist of the story to him and he loved it. "Though Vikram was busy with a few other projects, he came on board and agreed to complete the film by squeezing his dates," recounted Menon. "He finalised his own hairdo and costumes for the film, and came to the sets fully prepared. All I told him was to be chill and relax unlike his other films where he had to be serious by changing his looks and physique."
On how the film shaped up
Earlier, Menon had also narrated the script of Dhruva Natchathiram to Rajinikanth but the project never took off with him.
Known for his emotionally-packed flashbacks in films, Menon said he has chopped off the backstory of the protagonist in Dhruva Natchathiram. "I have some scenes of Vikram and Aishwarya Rajesh as the lead in the sequel but in the first part, her scenes have been trimmed. I also feel 140 minutes is the ideal runtime of the film," he revealed.
Menon dismissed the idea that Dhruva Natchathiram visually will look jaded as it was under production for a long time. "I worked with three cinematographers for the film — Jomon T John, Kathir, and Vishnu. We have shot in the US, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Georgia, the UAE, Bulgaria, and India. Shooting in multiple locations is also one of the reasons behind the delay. A few films like Mani sir's Nayakan had the visual supremacy that they even look fresh now. In the same way, I believe, Dhruva Natchathiram's visuals will not look old or jaded just because the film was under production for a long time."
On being back with Harris Jayaraj
On teaming up with his long-time friend Harris Jayaraj again after Yennai Arindhaal, Menon said: "Yes, we are back. Initially, there was only one song but after watching the film, Harris felt that a few moments in the film demand extra songs. Narachamudi, his name is John and one more surprise track were composed only after we shot the film. We used the contemporary singer Paal Dabba Anishfor His name is John, thankfully, it worked really well for the film."
On the subject of the action sequences, Menon said they are realistic and stylish. "The villains won't bounce back from the ground, trucks won't topple needlessly yet the scenes will have the impact," he said wryly.
Initially, Menon had Arun Vijay in mind to play the antagonist. However, after working with him earlier in Yennai Arindhaal and since he was also playing the main lead in films, Menon started searching for a suitable villain for the film. "It was Dhivyadharshini who recommended me to watch Kammmati Paadam and introduced me to Vinayakan. From the beginning, I sketched his character as a stylish villain. Though his popularity after Jailer is a big advantage for us, he has a very different makeover in this film," said the filmmaker.
On making a love story again
Gautham Menon is known for his legendary romances in Tamil cinema and when quizzed about his next romantic movie, the director said big heroes are not keen to act in them.
"You won't believe this...I had narrated a romantic drama to almost eight heroes from other industries as well. Though they loved it and had tears in their eyes, they only prefer action films to be able to tap the pan-India market."
Will be act again? "My family doesn't want to see me as an actor," said Menon. "They are telling me to concentrate only on filmmaking but due to financial reasons, I had to take up a few roles. To be honest, there are some roles I enjoyed and performed like Joshy in Leo. I got a lot of appreciation for Leo and Viduthalai. Also, I'm able to learn a lot of new things from filmmakers like Lokesh and Vetrimaaran."
However, he was not comfortable working in a few films but accepted them only because of the good remuneration. "Even recently, I was approached for a big hero film but I feel it's time for me to get back only behind the scenes. On the other hand, whenever I act, I get a lot of time to write scripts as they call me only when my shot is ready. When I'm directing a film, there won't be any free time and so script writing takes a backseat," points out the filmmaker, who is currently working on a cricket-based script.
Whether he dons the director's cap or gets in front of the camera in Vijay starrer Leo, Menon manages to create his own distinctive style and it is difficult to ignore him.
