Gautham Menon on Chhello Show being India's official entry to the Oscars

Filmmaker Gautham Menon has hit the milestone of 21 years in the business. According to him, his experience in cinema is quite similar to those of the Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu protagonist, Muthu (played by Silambarasan). “It's almost like his journey,” the director told ETimes.

“Muthu had too many challenges to deal with. Even though mine wasn't particularly difficult, getting where I am now required me to overcome several setbacks!”

In response to a question on Chhello Show, India's official Oscar entry, and how it was an underdog that beat out RRR and The Kashmir Files, Gautham Menon said, “Definitely well-deserved. I haven't watched the film, but I would love to. There are smart people on the jury. I have read about it, and I'm sure there's a good reason why they chose that movie, among the rest.”

Gautham Menon's latest release was Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, which is in cinemas. “The process of writing and directing was enjoyable for me. I've told a lot of stories in my 20 years of work, mostly from my life. I served as the inspiration for both Karthik and Jessie, the two main characters in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. But today, I want to explore different fields, and VTK is the first step towards that.”

Gautham Menon spoke about working with his regular collaborator, Silambarasan on VTK. “He is highly intuitive and anticipates what others will say and how they will react. He even accurately predicted how the voiceovers in the Vendhu... trailer would be received. Regarding my past collaborations with him—VTV 2, and Nadhigalilae—I truly want to see Simbu back in the romantic drama genre, and I do not doubt that he would be content to do it.”

Notably, the filmmaker had announced the title, Nadhigalilae Neeradum Suriyan, however, he made changes to the script and delivered Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu.

Gautham Menon told ETimes, “Silambarasan was the lead character in Nadhigalilae Neeradum Suriyan, a new-age love story. The songs were written by AR Rahman. We had three songs finished, and we were looking for a female lead. However, when Jeyamohan and I ran into one another for a different topic, he told me a short story about a gangster and said, ‘Gun decides the person who fires it, not the person who fires the gun’. I wanted to write a narrative like that, and it eventually became Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu.”

The director continued, “I told Jeyamohan that I would present Simbu in a novel way and started the project with him. He listened to my two-hour narration and grasped the point I was making. We conducted a look test when we next met, and in our third meeting, we began filming for VTK.”

When asked if he felt any pressure while filming, especially because VTK marked his comeback after four years, Gautham added, “Everything fell into place beautifully. I'm pleased with the outcome right now.”