Gautham Vasudev Menon on Mammootty in Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse: He does what most heroes will not agree to

In Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, Mammootty plays a former cop turned private detective, a character that is not larger than life. The film will be in theatres on January 23, 2025

Mammootty in Dominic And The Ladies' Purse.

It is crystal clear from all of filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon’s interviews about Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse that he’s an ardent fan of Mammootty, an admiration that’s only gotten stronger after collaborating on the film that is releasing on January 23. Although Gautham and Mammootty had worked together as actors on Bazooka, directing the latter was a totally different ball game.

Also read: Gautham Vasudev Menon: Half of the stories made in Malayalam cinema will never get made in Tamil

The Malayalam superstar would give Gautham no inkling of what he’d planned for each scene, and routinely surprised the filmmaker with the little nuances he brought to the character. As a director who does not like to micromanage his actors, Gautham was also aware that he cannot do that with an artiste like Mammootty. Gautham’s style is to create the environment and then see what the actor gives him, but with Mammootty, he did not even do that. He’d set up everything and not even tell the actor to work within a certain frame; instead, Gautham would leave it open and figure out what to do with the camera.

Gautham Vasudev Menon: Dominic is not larger-than-life

Dominic, explains Gautham, is an ex-cop who is using his expertise to run a detective agency, and yet, he is not a larger-than-life character. “In investigative thrillers, involving cops or detectives, the character is often portrayed larger-than-life. That is not the case here. If you hit Dominic, he will fall down and may not even retaliate. That’s not to say that he will not land a blow or two, but the bottom line is that this is a character who can be overpowered. This is something that most heroes will not agree to and won’t do also. In Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse there is a moment in which someone overpowers Dominic,” says Gautham in an interview with One 2 Talks.

Also read: Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse maker Gautham Vasudev Menon on why he pursues acting too

The filmmaker adds that the character is as real as gets, as he did not want it to seem unbelievable. Mammootty played it perfectly and has ensured that Dominic will stay with audiences, reckons Gautham. “Audiences will leave theatres wondering what Dominic will do next,” he says.

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