For hardcore action buffs and film lovers, director Gautham Menon's genre of films belongs to an exciting and unexplored stratum of Tamil cinema. An engineering graduate, Gautham entered movies as assistant director to the most-acclaimed Rajeev Menon while the latter was making Minsara Kanavu and learnt the nuances of the art of film making.
It started with the romantic musical Minnale with Madhavan, Reema Sen, Abbas and Vivek leading the cast, and Harris Jayaraj’s tunes luring the masses. This soothing melody was followed by a pumped-up action-packed Kaakha Kaakha – the trendsetting cop film that proved to be Suriya’s biggest break! Again Harris headed the music department and we got some soulful music to savour!
Several hurdles later, he enthralled audiences with the action thriller Vettaiyaadu Villaiyaadu with Kamal Haasan playing an investigating officer who hunts down a pair of serial killers. Everything about the movie struck gold, especially the beautiful compositions by Harris! His next hit was Pachaikili Muthucharam with an interesting lineup off stars, an equally interesting story line and Harris’ hit melodies! Then came the melodious Varanam Aayiram with Suriya, Divya Spandana and Sameera.
Having built up a formidable reputation with such classic and path-breaking films, Gautham then teamed up with the Mozart of Madras A.R. Rahman for Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, a romantic musical starring Simbu and Trisha in the lead roles.
Gautam’s non-Tamil ventures include Rehna Hei Tere Dil Mein, the Hindi remake of Minnale. The movie did not score as well as the original. Gharshana [Telugu] was the remake of Kaakha Kaakha, and starred Venkatesh and Asin. The Telugu audience was awestruck by the action flick! Yemaya Chesave, the Telugu version of VTV, created wonders at the box office.
His latest experiment is Nadunisi Naaygal, starring Sameera Reddy and newcomer Veera in lead roles.
His upcoming production ventures includes Veppam and Azhagarsamyin Kuthirai (produced under his home banner Photon Kathaas). Apart from that, Gautham will soon remake VTV in Hindi with Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson.
Gautam, in his own way, has contributed towards a change for the better in Tamil Cinema in terms of technical perfection and innovative and intriguing scripts. He has proved himself as a director with great potential and has won the respect of his peers and audiences. Today, as he celebrates his birthday, we would like to wish him loads of luck and success in the years to come!
Happy Birthday, Gautam!
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