Gautham Vasudev Menon: Mammootty’s Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse is the fastest film I have made

Filmmaker, and occasional actor, Gautham Vasudev Menon will make his Malayalam directorial debut with Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, which has Mammootty in the lead, as a former cop turned private detective. The film, produced by Mammootty Kampany, went on floors in July 2024, and is ready for release only 6 months later, which, the filmmaker admits is the fastest he’s ever worked on a film.

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

Dominic and the Ladies' Purse was wrapped up with 5 days to spare

Speaking to Galatta Plus, Gautham elaborated, “In terms of production and release, Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse is, no doubt, my fastest film. I shot Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu in 52 days, but spread over a year. Similarly, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu was 78 days over a year. Everything is spread over a long time, for various reasons, like, for instance, for our own films, funding comes in slowly; it’s a mess. But here, there was no question of that,” he says.

Right at the onset, the start-to-finish timeline was clearly indicated and the team managed to wrap up with 5 days to spare. Gautham also managed to shoot the film within the budget that he’d said he would need for Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse. The filmmaker admits that he would have liked some breathing space because he likes to unwind and write some more, figure out and watch the edit, etc., a luxury he did not get. But meeting Mammootty every day on the set and discussing things was exciting and made up for all of that.

Mammootty’s Dominic And The Ladies’ Purse is not getting a wide release; Here’s why 

Although Gautham had worked with Mammootty as an actor on Bazooka, as a filmmaker, he said he looked forward to see how the actor would bring scenes to life. “It’s very unpredictable as to what he will come up with in a shot. You can write it, but you cannot really fathom that ‘this’ is what he will do. He surprised us at every point,” he adds.