Filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon, while promoting his Malayalam movie Dominic and The Ladies Purse, set to release this Friday, opened up on how he felt after his frequent collaborator and Tamil superstar Suriya rejected Dhruva Natchathiram, the spy action film that was later shot with Vikram.
In an interview with senior journalist Gopinath for Behindwoods, Gautham was asked why he couldn’t continue his collaboration with Suriya after having given two blockbusters, Kaakha Kaakha and Vaaranam Aayiram. “I understand why they (heroes) don’t want to do certain films, but I don’t want to understand as well.
“I believe that Suriya shouldn’t have hesitated about doing Dhruva Natchathiram. In Vaaranam Aayiram, when Mohanlal sir and Nana Patekar sir refused to play the older character, it was Suriya who courageously took up the challenge and decided to make it a double action. With Dhruva Natchathiram, he heard the script and we had many discussions over it, but for some reason, he refused to pick it. He kept asking me for a reference point but there was none for a film like this.”
Gautham then reiterated that Suriya could have trusted the director who gave him Kaakha Kaakha and Vaaranam Aayiram. “I asked him what could go wrong. ‘Will you not get your next film? The problem will be for me as a director-producer. I will face it.’ I didn’t want him to do it as a favour for me; I just wanted him to trust me. He didn’t tell me why he was hesitatant to do the film.”
Gautham further said that he is optimistic about Dhruva Natchathiram, which has been in the cans for many years now, finally seeing the light of the day. “It still looks like a film that was shot last week. Seeing the success of Madha Gaja Raja, I am even more confident,” he added.
Headlined by Vikram, Dhruva Natchathiram also features Ritu Varma, Radhakrishnan Parthiban, R Radikaa Sarathkumar, Simran, Vinayakan, Divya Dharshini, Munna Simon, Vamsi Krishna, Salim Baig, Sathish Krishnan, and Maya S Krishnan among others.
The film began production in 2017, eyeing a release in 2018, but the release was postponed indefinitely due to some financial constraints. Later, the film was announced to release on November 24, 2023, but was once again postponed.
The film has cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa, SR Kathir, and Vishnu Dev, additional cinematography by Jomon T John and Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran, and editing by Anthony. Ondraga Entertainment has produced the film in association with Oruoorileoru Film House.
Meanwhile, Joshua Imai Pol Kaakha, set in the same world as Dhruva Natchathiram, starring Varun, was released on March 1, 2024. The film tanked at the box office.
Published – January 23, 2025 01:05 pm IST
Tamil cinema
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Indian cinema
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Malayalam cinema
