I meet Gautham Vasudev Menon at his office on a very Gautham Menon-esque day. The sky is overcast and Alwarpet is on the cusp of rain. Dressed in a grey denim shirt neatly tucked into blue jeans, Gautham arrives on a Royal Enfield bike, his face wrapped in a scarf, exposing just his eyes — a look that reminds you of Victor (Arun Vijay) from Yennai Arindhaal. His latest movie, the Dhanush-starrer Enai Noki Paayum Thota (ENPT), roughly translates to: ‘The bullet coming my way’. But, its trailer has an interesting caption: ‘A bullet with my name on it’. One could argue that the bullet is an allegory on Gautham Menon, who has been carrying the weight of the loaded gun since 2016.
He agrees to do the interview amidst all the chaos surrounding its release. I ask if he can finally heave a sigh of relief, as he fields calls and answers messages. “Not at all. As we speak, I saw something that bothered me. But the content looks good...and not dated in that sense. ENPT is intense and compelling, and has some great music and performances.”
Tree of life
ENPT was initially slated for release in 2016, before it was bogged down by financial hiccups. Fans attacked him. Trolls took him for a ride. And his critics wrote him off. Gautham describes the past three years “tumultuous” and takes responsibility for whatever happened within his office.
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