close_game
close_game

Gautham Vasudev Menon was upset with Suriya for not trusting him as a director, rejecting Dhruva Nachathiram

Jan 23, 2025 10:16 AM IST

Gautham Vasudev Menon felt that communication between him and Suriya for Dhruva Nachathiram was not ideal.

Director Gautham Vasudev Menon’s debut Malayalam directorial, Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, starring Mammootty, releases on January 23, and he’s looking forward to the audience's reaction. Having made his career in Tamil cinema, the director has seen his share of hits and misses and doesn’t mince words when he talks about his work in Kollywood. One of his pet projects, Dhruva Nachathiram, which was initially to star Suriya and now stars Vikram, has been in the making for a while and is now stalled due to various legal and financial issues. (Also read: Gautham Vasudev Menon disowns ENPT with Dhanush; wishes Suriya headlined Joshua)

Gautham Vasudev Menon and Suriya were to work together in Dhruva Nachathiram.
Gautham Vasudev Menon and Suriya were to work together in Dhruva Nachathiram.

In recent interviews, he has spoken about various issues, including that people in the Tamil industry didn’t come forward to help him. Was the director disappointed with the Tamil film industry at this point?

On Dhruva Nachathiram

“There’s no disappointment as such. I’m not setting out from home thinking I’m going to talk about this issue or that. I’m a very candid person, and I’m not spewing anything bad about anyone - I just speak my mind. The intention wasn’t to say something specific, but when I was asked about some of my work and the problems I faced, I spoke about them. In that scenario, I spoke about Dhruva Nachathiram, and everyone knows it’s in the cans and has not yet been released. When Suriya was to do the film, I was the producer, and we paid him an advance,” stated Menon.

The director added, “The discussions between him and me always revolved around the content; we could have just trusted each other and done the film. But he finally didn’t. When Vikram came on board, I wasn’t the producer – Vikram picked P Madan to produce the film and I came in somewhere along the way to sort out the issues the film had and took over. The perception that I’m the producer and that’s why the film is stuck is wrong – even if Suriya had been in this film now, it would have been stuck.”

As for why some Tamil actors were unwilling to collaborate with him and whether he moved to Malayalam cinema because of this, Gautham says, “I don't look at films as Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema, Telugu cinema and all that. If I have a story that I feel suits a particular actor, no matter which industry, then I’ll approach them. I just look at it as a film – it’s only when it comes to business aspects that people look at it as a Malayalam, Tamil or Telugu film. I don’t have any boundaries. When I heard the story of Dominic, I liked it. I thought only of Mammootty, sir, and he said yes. I’m hoping a lot of people will see the film because it has a wide release. Malayalam actors are also keenly looking at different content and how it would work for them. For instance, Mammootty sir has recently done films like Kaathal, Brahmayugam and Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Heroes in Tamil cinema might not say yes to subjects like these; that’s what I feel. There’s no angst or regret that I have with Tamil cinema. I’d still love to do more Tamil films.”

On equation with Suriya

Tell him that he looked genuinely upset with Suriya over the Dhruva Nachathiram rejection in one of the video interviews, and he says, “Of course I was! Suriya is somebody I worked with on two films – Kaakha Kaakha and Vaaranam Aayiram. I had the scripts, but we both worked a lot to make the films work, and there was a lot of discussion and collaboration. Vaaranam Aayiram was a coming-of-age story with deep emotion and it was a very poignant sort of film. Suriya picked that film because he trusted me and he trusted himself with the film. So that’s why there was this whole upset feeling that he didn’t trust me with Dhruva Nachathiram. I thought it’ll work really well.”

However, he is quick to point out that Suriya and he did collaborate together in 2021 for the Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru episode of the Navarasa series on Netflix. Will they work together again anytime soon? “Cinema kind of makes it happen, Life makes it happen. So, there’s no, ‘I don't want to work with him’ or anything like that. And given that there are very few heroes around, I’d also definitely not want to lose an opportunity to work with him,” states Menon.

Coming to his acting chops, Gautham Vasudev Menon’s work on the screen is being noticed by the audience, and many other directors want to sign him on as an actor. So, why is he a ‘reluctant actor’ as he says? “I am a reluctant actor. It’s only because other directors are still calling me, I act. I get calls every day, and 90% of the time, we (me and my team) say no. I’m thankful to the opportunities that are coming my way, and it’s something besides directing and writing, and it also keeps the home fires burning, so to speak. But it’s not something that I look forward to. When a producer or director I have a lot of respect for calls, then I can’t say no. For instance, Santhanam called me and said he had done Neethane Enn Ponvasantham for me and asked if I could do DD Returns. I said yes immediately. But most of the time I am a reluctant actor and don’t look forward to being in films,” he reveals.

On learnings in the industry

Ask him what he has learnt over the 25 years he has been in Tamil cinema and what keeps him going, given that he has seen highs and lows; the director says that ‘life goes on’. “This film, Dominic and the Ladies Purse is a big example of that. Dhruva Nachathiram didn’t release and I was handling so many issues to get the film out, and also in a creative low. There is a general perception that I’m down and out and not to touch a film that Gautham is directing because there may be legal issues that’ll come up later and so on. In the middle of all that, there is Mammootty sir, who I've always wanted to do a film with, and he picked the subject, he picked the director, and he said he’d produce the film too. He knew all the issues and still said we trust you, and know you’ll do agood job. That’s the huge learning in this for me - life goes on. The dogged pursuit always works, and there’s nothing that can put you down,” he confesses, admitting that relationships in the film industry are very superficial.

rec-icon Recommended Topics
Share this article
Amazon Summer Sale is here! Splurge and save now! Click Here!.

Get more updates from Bollywood, Taylor Swift, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.
See More
Amazon Summer Sale is here! Splurge and save now! Click Here!.

Get more updates from Bollywood, Taylor Swift, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On