Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu Won't Have Voiceovers, Says Gautham Menon

Almost three years have passed since the release of Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta. Director Gautham Menon did not have any qualms in addressing the mixed response that the film received. He even acknowledged how the voiceover in Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta did not work for the audience. Gautham explained his perception of the feedback he got for the voice overs in Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta, and shared much more in his recent interview with Baradwaj Rangan, for Galatta Plus.

Gautham said that Jayamohan, who has written Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, strongly recommended him to not include voice overs in Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu. Jayamohan had felt that as voice overs were not new to Gautham, it would be fresher to go without any, for Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu. When Baddy, as Baradwaj Rangan is fondly called, said he is going to miss them, Gautham joked about how it would be just him who misses the voice overs.

Let me take a short detour and share my thoughts on this. Although it might suddenly feel outdated, as it did not work well in Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta, the voice over technique of narration is still relevant. The critically acclaimed American series 'You', has made great use of voice overs and the show has been significantly elevated by the voice overs. People have still not gotten over the magic of how well Gautham had used voice overs in his cult romantic hit Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. The film is still being screened in PVR Cinemas in VR Mall, Chennai, for those who are interested in revisiting it. I went for a show on a Saturday, a couple of months back, and the occupancy was quite decent for a 10-year old film. While its true that the voice overs in Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta, were sub-par, the narrative technique in itself surely hasn't lost its charm.

Talking about Jayamohan's involvement in writing Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, Gautham was apparently given the liberty to bring out the romantic angle in the story. Jayamohan was quite supportive in terms of improvising dialogues and letting Gautham own the script, get into it, and get comfortable with the universe. The director said the writer-director duo were already discussing future projects, and that he is enjoying the collaboration a lot.

Gautham mentioned that this film is the first of two parts, and if the film works well, they would go ahead and immediately start the production for the sequel. He said he hopes to work on the sequel, as he is quite excited by what it has to offer.

Gautham added that he initially had a love story to work on, with STR, however, Jayamohan had discussed this story with Gautham, shortly before the production work began, and Gautham felt that this would be a much better project to get STR into, at the moment. He said that the actor was enthusiastic about Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, and hence they picked it up. This shift might explain the change in the film's title. It was initially titled Nadhigalile Neeraadum Suriyan.

This film is a transitional project for Gautham, as he himself affirmed to Baddy in the interview. Gautham said that so far he had only written and directed characters that were from his world, observed from people he met and interacted with in his life. This is the first time he was entering someone else's world and getting to know the characters in their universe. He said he loved the process, and he wants this to mark his new phase of film-making.

On an unrelated note, Gautham revealed that Lokesh Kanagaraj called him up to take up a role in Vikram. Gautham said it was the role that Chemban Vinod had played in the film. Since, Gautham was busy with his direction work, he could not take it up. Gautham added that Lokesh had discussed a role for him in his next with Vijay.

Gautham said that he would love to act with Vijay. Baddy remarked that it would be a full circle from when Vijay and Gautham were about to work together as actor-director, and now becoming costars. Gautham said he hopes Lokesh doesn't forget the conversation, and gets back to him. We hope he does that too!