Gautham Vasudev Menon

Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973), often known by his initials GVM, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has also directed Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films, most of them shot simultaneously with or remade from his own Tamil work, and has acted in Malayalam and Telugu films. His best-known films include the romances Minnale (2001), Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010), the police thrillers Kaakha Kaakha (2003), Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006) and Yennai Arindhaal (2015), and the gangster drama Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (2022). He has won two National Film Awards, three Nandi Awards and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.

Early life

Menon was born in Ottapalam, Palakkad, Kerala, to a Malayali father, Prabha Krishnan, and a Tamil mother, and grew up in Anna Nagar, Chennai. He studied at Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School and earned a mechanical engineering degree from Mookambigai College of Engineering, Pudukkottai. His college years later shaped the student heroes of several of his films.

Into films

Inspired by films such as Dead Poets Society and Nayakan, he told his parents he wanted to make films. At his mother’s urging he first made advertisements, apprenticing under the filmmaker Rajiv Menon, and he worked as an assistant director on Minsara Kanavu (1997), in which he also made a cameo.

Minnale

His debut, Minnale (2001), starring Madhavan, was a romance about a young man who falls for the fiancée of his old college rival. It also introduced the composer Harris Jayaraj. Released for Valentine’s Day, it was a major commercial success and well reviewed. Its Hindi remake, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001), which Menon also directed, underperformed but later gained a cult following through television screenings.

Kaakha Kaakha and Gharshana

Kaakha Kaakha (2003), a realistic police thriller starring Suriya and Jyothika, showed how a police officer’s personal life is affected by the gangsters he pursues. It was widely praised and another success. Menon remade it in Telugu as Gharshana (2004), with Venkatesh in Suriya’s role and Asin as the female lead. The Telugu version earned both commercial success and critical acclaim, with reviewers praising his technical craft and comparing him to Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma. Plans for Hindi and English versions of the story did not materialise.

Pachaikili Muthucharam

Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007), based on James Siegel’s novel Derailed, starred Sarath Kumar and Jyothika and introduced Andrea Jeremiah. It drew positive early reviews but was a financial failure. A youth film called Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam, starring Trisha and a group of newcomers, began shooting in 2007 but was shelved.

Vaaranam Aayiram

Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) reunited him with Suriya, who played both father and son in a story about a father as his son’s hero. Menon dedicated it to his own father and has described it as largely autobiographical. The film was well received and, according to the source, earned almost 220 million rupees worldwide against a budget of 150 million. It became his most celebrated work, winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil along with five Filmfare Awards and nine Vijay Awards.

Production

Menon produces films through his company, Photon Kathaas. Its production Thanga Meenkal (2013) won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.