Gautham Menon: This is a dream come true
The director speaks about his upcoming short in Netflix’s Navarasa, working with Suriya after Vaaranam Aayiram, acting in Karthik Subbaraj’s short in the anthology, and more
Bhuvanesh Chandar
(Originally published on 23rd July 2021)
Watching Nayagan, Gautham Vasudev Menon’s dream was to work with four artists behind that film: Ilaiyaraaja, Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam and PC Sreeram. He has already worked with Ilaiyaraaja (Neethaane En Ponvasantham), Kamal Haasan (Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu) and PC Sreeram (Putham Pudhu Kaalai). And now, he gets the opportunity to work with Mani Ratnam too, in Navarasa, the upcoming Netflix anthology produced by the Nayagan-director. “This is a dream come true for me. Nayagan started me on my journey, and I am sure it was a stepping stone for a lot of other filmmakers as well!” says Gautham.
And yet, for Gautham, this wasn’t the clincher to get involved in this project. Navarasa, which explores nine stories around nine emotions respectively, was pitched by Mani Ratnam and Jayendra Panchapakesan as an initiative through which to give back to the film industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds from the anthology are to be donated to the Film Employees Federation of South India. “We were all clear that we would work without remuneration. We will continue donating more,” says Gautham.
Out of the nine emotions (rasas), Gautham’s film—surely, you are not surprised—is about love, and has been titled Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru. A ‘musical love story’ that happens over an evening, the film is about “how both characters inspire each other. Imagine being on a lonely journey and finding that someone unexpectedly. Your entire journey might change thereon. In 40 minutes, I wanted to tell such a story in a musical format.”
Gautham adds that though he wasn’t…
Read the full interview here:
https://www.cinemaexpress.com/stories/interviews/2021/jul/23/gautham-menon-this-is-a-dream-come-true-25635.html
To watch the video interview, click here: