Last month, director-actor Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Tamil-language gangster film Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu Part I: The Kindling hit the theatres and emerged as a box office success. Starring South star Silambarasan, also known as Simbu, the film traces the story of a low-caste youngster who struggles for himself and his community’s identity in the society.
In an exclusive chat with News18, Gautham opens up on pushing the envelope and breaking the mould with Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (VTK), which eventually proved to be a fruitful move. Talking about taking a big risk with the film, he says, “Films like this are subjected to what’s called a litmus test. In case of VTK, for instance, there was a little bit of back and forth because the audience is used to a certain kind of cinema from me, which is trademark GVM. But they went through it."
He adds, “Fifteen minutes into VTK, they might have thought that they’ve come to the wrong screen but they warmed up to it pretty quickly. There was always this risk but we never worried about it. We just wanted to make a good film."
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Gangster films are not new to South cinema. In fact, these films have frequently been made and, more often than not, won the hearts of the audience. Gautham might have been relatively new to the genre but he decided to stick to his creative instincts and template – that of staying rooted to reality – to bring the story alive onscreen.
He says, “I decided to make this film in a certain way. I wanted to be true to the story, the milieu and the set-up. There are cinematic moments in my films but I try to keep most of them as real and organic as possible. But yes, there are heroic and mass moments within my universe."
The Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) and Putham Pudhu Kaalai (2020) maker reveals that it was not difficult to make Silambarasan slip under the skin of the narrative and empathise with his character. “In VTK, Mr B Jeyamohan (writer) and I created a particular set-up. Generally, there are moments where I push my heroes to do something or be someone that’s not in line with what our cinema is conditioned to be like because Tamil and Hindi cinema are expected to be of a certain kind. I always knew it is going to be a challenge for Simbu to accept what I was trying to do. But he heard the story and completely understood it," he elaborates.
Gautham further adds, “I know that he hasn’t played a simple boy in his twenties hailing from the south, who goes to Mumbai and gets into a gangster life [in any of his previous films]. The plan was to never push anything larger-than-life. I think it paid off because the audience is resonating with the film."
At a time when South films are heavily penetrating the north Indian market, the Navarasa (2021) and Paava Kadhaigal (2020) actor decided to not dub VTK in Hindi. Quiz him about it and he explains, “This film starts off in a small village in Tamil Nadu and it’s about a 20-year-old boy and his mother. He finishes his BSc and she tells him to go out. She asks him to meet somebody and then wonders if he’ll be able to manage and survive because he doesn’t know the language. If I dub it in Hindi straightaway, the whole ideology will go for a toss. If he already speaks the language, then there’s no need to worry about getting into an alien land and figuring out things as an immigrant. I wanted to be true to the story and so, I decided to not dub it in Hindi."
The success of VTK has generated a lot of intrigue among viewers about its second chapter. Divulging details on the same, Gautham shares, “It will be set in Lucknow. We’ve started the screenplay work. We need to take it to the hero and the producer. They’re expecting a really big film but I’ve a certain sensibility in my mind. Once our ideologies match, we’ll make it."
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