Gautham Vasudev Menon likely to direct first Malayalam movie next year: ‘I want to work with Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil’

Hailing from Ottapalam in Kerala’s Palakkad district, Gautham Vasudev Menon has always remained connected to his Kerala roots, despite never having directed a film in the Malayalam industry. Meanwhile, Menon has now voiced optimism about the prospects of directing a Malayalam movie next year.

“I am also looking to see if I can direct a film next year in Malayalam; I am in discussion with a couple of actors. I really want to work with Mammootty sir and also with Fahadh Faasil,” Menon told Entertainment Times.

“We have always lived in Chennai, but I have maintained my Kerala connection because my grandmother lived in Ottapalam and I used to visit her and my aunts every year during the summer holidays. So, I learnt to speak the language. I also grew up watching a lot of Malayalam films. It is a beautiful thing to be a part of the industry,” Menon added.

Ever since the director began actively taking up acting roles, Gautham Menon has appeared in three Malayalam films as well — Trance (2020), Lovefully Yours Veda (2023) and Anuragam (2023). He is currently working on director Deeno Dennis’ highly-anticipated Malayalam film Bazooka, starring Mammootty.

On working alongside the Malayalam megastar, Menon said, “We are shooting in sync sound, which is interesting and challenging. Mammootty sir was telling me how to handle live sound and how an actor should train this way. In some scenes, with the difficulty in dialogue, he told me how to do the lines, telling me to just say a couple of things in English, if that comes more naturally. He was very surprised when I did a long dialogue in Malayalam in one take.”

“I asked him if he gets bored with having faced the camera so many times, but he said, he becomes the character in each film, so it never gets boring. So that was also a learning for me. I had watched Mammootty sir during the shoot of Vadakkan Veeragatha in Ottapalam. I was about 21 then, and to now work with him in a movie, is like coming full circle,” he added.

Likening Dulquer Salmaan to his father with respect to intensity, Menon said, “Dulquer is as intense as his father; the genes. He comes alive when the camera comes on. We had a good time working on Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal.”

Elaborating on the differences between Malayalam and Tamil industries, GVM said, “There is a lot more raw intensity in Malayalam films, in the settings and the way the actors perform. When it looks so realistic that the audiences don’t notice the camera moving, you have won and Malayalam achieves that. In Tamil, a lot of films are written for the stars and woven in a way to boost their image. Malayalam is content-heavy and the big actors also play very everyday characters. Tamil is way ahead in innovative technique, but Malayalam doesn’t give a damn about that; here it is about how they capture the mood.”