Gautham Vasudev Menon opens up about 26/11 reference in Dhruva Natchathiram; discusses level of patriotism in his movie

Now, Dhruva Natchathiram: Chapter One – Yuddha Kaandam is set for release on November 24.

Meanwhile, Gautham Vasudev Menon recently stated that he would have done the same and gone to any length for any of his films, not just Dhruva Natchathiram (DN). “If I claim it’s because DN is special, it would be a lie that I say for the promotion of the movie. I would have undertaken such efforts for any of my movies. I did something akin for Enai Noki Paayum Thota,” he said during a chat with Cinema Express.

“Right from the beginning, I had informed Vikram sir that we intended to develop it into a series of films if the characters worked out. This could be our answer to a sort of James Bond kind of idea; this could be our vigilante or covert team film,” he mentioned. “This film discusses what he does… who he is will be revealed in a later film,” Gautham noted.

“We all went into the shoot, ensuring proper discussions. However, after a point, my vision ceased to resonate with those around me, and the film was shelved. Nevertheless, I fought for it, and I would have done the same for any movie. Despite the suffering it caused me, I was certain that once it was released, it would bring me immense satisfaction and a good reputation. I was the only one with that confidence, and, in all frankness, not even Vikram sir shared it,” the filmmaker added

Watch Dhruva Natchathiram trailer here:

Praising director Lokesh Kanagaraj for creating a cinematic universe (LCU), Gautham mentioned that the beauty of LCU is that actors are willing to participate in those films. He stated, “Not many actors would be okay with it. But Lokesh managed to do that, and that too in a Kamal Haasan film, which is unbelievable. Kamal sir lending his voice for Leo, if you ask me, is a significant thing. Lokesh is a director who is able to accomplish that.”

Asserting that he is very happy about how Dhruva Natchathiram has turned out, Gautham mentioned: “Vikram sir is as flamboyant as ever, and he is in full splendour. Vinayakan walks in at one point and then takes over the entire film. Vikram sir himself praised Vinayakan after watching the film. Even during the shoot, there was amazing camaraderie between them.”

Recalling that he approached Vikram for the first time for Kaakha Kaakha (2003), which eventually went to Suriya and gave him the biggest break in his career, Gautham Menon mentioned that after Suriya backed out of Dhruva Natchathiram, he reached out to ‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth to essay the lead role before knocking on Vikram’s doors again.

When asked about the level of patriotism in the movie, Gautham responded, “When I am making a film, I won’t overdo it, right? I won’t promote jingoistic ideas, waving flags and being anti-Pakistan. I don’t believe in that. I have only established that we need to be there for the country. There is a threat, and there always has been. 26/11 was a huge incident that could have been avoided actually. 10-11 people infiltrated the country and created that havoc. ‘Why didn’t we know about this?’ or ‘why did we not act despite knowing about this?’ are some things we have touched upon in DN.”

“There were discussions following the incident (of LeT terrorists storming into Mumbai) that it took 18-20 hours for the first NSG chopper to arrive and drop commandos to the Taj (Mahal Palace hotel) and other places. This man feels that it required crossing many bureaucratic hurdles before the chopper got permission. He wanted to prevent such delays from happening again and create a team that could respond swiftly and act as a rapid action force,” he added, recalling discussions that he came across post the 26/11 attacks and described this as the origin of Dhruva Natchathiram’s story.