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

Gautham Vasudev Menon is a writer, director and actor, but prefers to identify as a filmmaker. And yet, in 2025, he is already said to be a part of at least 4 films as an actor, including Bazooka with Mammootty and Thalapathy Vijay’s untitled next, which is said to be his last before he takes the plunge into politics. What is it that draws Gautham to acting?

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

Gautham Vasudev Menon: I am a reluctant actor

In an interview with One 2 Talks, Gautham, who is currently promoting his Malayalam directorial debut Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, which stars Mammootty and has been produced by the actor, said that when the door for acting opportunities opened, he did not want to leave it unexplored. In doing so, Gautham says that he got to work with a bunch of good filmmakers, understand their working styles and even learn from their craft. He cites the set of director Anwar Rasheed’s Trance, which, Gautham absolutely loved being a part of.

Gautham, who calls himself a reluctant actor, admits that not all of his acting choices have given him a creative high. In fact, when he gets the vibe that it is not worth his while, he avoids them as well. But irrespective of this, there are times when Gautham says that he goes ahead and does certain roles solely for the purpose of learning and exploring filmmaking from the perspective of certain directors.

Also read: Gautham Vasudev Menon on Mammootty's Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse: 'I hope to make 3 more Dominic films if this works' 

As an actor, Gautham also says that it gives him free time that he can utilize to read or write, which are luxuries he does not have when he’s making a film. The bottom line, he says, is the quality project and what is in it for him, when choosing an acting assignment. Most recently seen in Viduthalai Part 2, Gautham has a comedy film with Santhanam, DD Returns, apart from Bazooka and Vijay69 in his kitty.