Life in cinema

Gautham Menon promises to continue making his brand of cinema that is soul-stirring to watch and straight out of life. ‘Courier Boy Kalyan’ that he co-produces is equally exciting to watch, he says

Writer, producer, director Gautham Menon has over the years become a brand in his own right, especially when it comes to creating beautiful romance in his films. Be it the father-son relation oriented film like ‘Surya s/o Krishnan’ or outright romances like ‘Ye Maya Chesavo’, ‘Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu’ or his action oriented police stories like ‘Gharshana’ – his soulful, romantic and emotion-laden scenes look straight out of life. Even his action sequences are popular for being closer to reality.

He has been critically acclaimed for making realistic cinema into a commercial success, especially for film like ‘Kaakha Kaakha’ (Gharshana in Telugu), and is equally taunted for his style of filmmaking when his films do not fare well at box-office. But he says he cannot and will not make his films any other way.

His track record of realistic cinema has remained unblemished despite detractors. “I watch films in theatres and when I write a scene or shoot a sequence, I do it from the perspective of the audience. I play it in my mind before commencing to write,” he relates.So when he decides to produce a film, like he chose to co-produce ‘Courier Boy Kalyan’ (CBK) directed by Premsai with Nithiin as the lead actor, one wonders what prompted him.

“As I heard the script, I smiled and laughed along with it and found enough excitement in the second half to make it a good film that can connect to the audience. I am quite happy with the result too. Nithiin is at his charming best in the film and I am counting on his screen presence to take the film forward,” he shares. “I co-produce my own films for the creative freedom. I like to be left alone by the producer. And I do the same when I produce. For ‘CBK’, I let Premsai do his job and only got involved during post-production and for promotions,” he adds.

Even as a director he is known to be a calm person. “I like a quiet set and ensure that no one is stressed out at the location. I only expect people to do their job well. But I am not a control freak,” he maintains. During his many previous interviews Gautham has revealed that he does not like revisiting his script or changing anything once it gets on to the floors.

He knows what he wants and that probably helps maintain the calm. He agrees, “I never regretted or wanted to change any script of mine. When I once wanted to change a few scenes for Simbu during ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa’, to suit his image, he was reluctant and asked me not to change my style of working even for him. I am lucky to have worked with actors who understood me.” No wonder Simbu is his favourite actor, “Absolutely,” he agrees. “He vibes very well with me and completely understands me.”

‘CBK’ is scheduled for release on September 17 and the Tamil version is also ready to release with Jai as the lead actor. And he is currently working on a film with Chaitanya in the lead, ‘Saahasam Swasaga Saagipo’ that is being simultaneously shot in Tamil with Simbu in the lead.

He does not believe in dubbing the film, yet always tries to take his scripts to audience across languages with remakes. “I hate the concept of dubbing as I feel that more than half of the original spirit is lost in dubbing. I would rather the film is remade like ‘Gharshana’ and ‘Ye Maya Chesave’. In fact I feel ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’ (Surya s/o Krishnan), would have done much better, had it been remade into Telugu.

If it was up to him he would have remade all his films into Hindi, but has time and again refrained from doing so, “My past experiences while making ‘Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein’ or ‘Ekk Deewana Tha’ bog me down. Usually small issues don’t bother me, but if they crop up in huge markets it bothers me,” he shares.

Soulful music, heroines who manage to look ravishing despite their simplistic style, distinctive narrative and life-like situations mark Gautham cinema. While every one of his film has enjoyed popularity amongst fans, what happens when they don’t make a mark commercially. “It is disappointing. When we made ‘Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu’, we put in our hearts. Somehow, it didn’t get the results that we expected.”

Yet, “I have never gone back to a script or tried rewriting. When I first write, I do it with instinct and re-thinking will only lead to chaos. And I don’t think I can make any other kind of cinema. I am not into fantasy. I would like to keep my cinema as realistic as possible. Recently I watched ‘Bangalore Days’ and it is one film I found was my kind of cinema. I would have loved to make it myself,” he reaffirms.

No wonder, as there is a Gautham Menon brand of cinema, so there is a whole set of audience who dedicatedly follow him and watch his films.

By:Rajeshwari Kalyanam