My name is Gautam Vasudev Menon. I am young, smart, creative, conniving and since I studied in a convent and watched many Major Sundararajan movies, I am used to saying "Ava Avlo Azhagu. Beautiful and sexy too". Now, its been a week since my movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya opened to booming theatre business. I am sitting in my couch, while my Syrian Catholic Mal wife is up in the terrace trying to save my only veshti, her only mundu, and our other western clothes from impending rain. I am not only a hit director today, but a hit son and a hit husband too. And I am proud of it.
Think about it, Gautam, I told myself. Think about how you have been able to win most of the times and how each time it was just an exceptionally simple trick that you pulled off. Minnale, Kakha Kakha, Pachaikili Muthucharam, Vettayadu Vilayadu, Varanam Ayiram. Now Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. If I looked at Madhavan, Suriya, Sarath, Kamal, Suriya again, and Simbu in all these movies, I see something of myself in them. And my father, my wife, my sister, my uncle, my aunty, my neighbour, my classmate, my sister's friend, all of them, are the supporting characters in all my movies. I try to prove everytime, that every life that is born on this planet, is worth a movie classic. I try to prove, every life has charisma, a story and an enigma to it. Thats what I have tried, yet again in Vinnaithandi Varuvaya.
I was in love with my wife, who I ended marrying. But what if there was an anti-climax to my own life. Wouldnt it make a good movie? I tinkered the thought a little, gave it an art director, a cinematographer, a global music director, and many others. I imagined how it would be if Simbu was made to act like Gemini Ganesan and look like Siddharth. He would be a completely new star! Andha ennam enna pottu porrattichu. I was struck by the thought. Adhe nimisham, I called up Simbu and enrolled him for lead role. Even though all my heroes till now, save Kamal, were terrible at delivering dialogues in English, I made them say it, and people ended up thinking that it was a ravishing idea. So I made Simbu say, "I am crazy about you Jessie", though it sounded close to how it would be if the Late Cochin Haneefa said the same lines.
Several critics have told me that I mess up the second half. Most of them dont realise that I try to give a fictitional twist to my real life stories only in the later half. Hence, I know I mess it up. The first halves in my movies are so unbelievable believable and the second halves are so unbelievable unbelievable!
I think my biggest asset is my maturity. It helps me give a realistic grip to all my movies. A young man sent me an email last night. He told me that he saw himself in Simbu and that the incidents in the movie, minus the fibs and frills, was almost his story. He told me that he was confused about his life until he saw VTV, when apparently, clarity struck him as suddenly as love strikes Simbu in the movie. He told me that he spent some time after watching the movie with his love bird, discussing their future in love. The young man told me that the intimacy he felt at that point, was inexplicable and true. He ended his mail, few contents of which I am not disclosing here, saying that my movie helped the couple realise the beauty and the blooper in their beyond-normally-natural relationship. In a way, I am really happy that my movie has been able to shape true lives by disentangling many relationships from communication flaws and possible perdition, and has given many, pragmatism's point of view to relationships. Let me unravel the underlying intention in all my movies - I want the world to feel loved, I want the young man to feel loved, I want you and me to feel loved. And ofcourse, I want to make money in the process.
I can hear my wife coming down. She is the most beautiful woman ever. I wish every person on Earth married someone he/she genuinely loved. Lets not waste our lifetime, sacrificing on love for other things that are already here to stay.
I just got a text message from my next producer reminding me that we have already made publicity about the next movie, even though I havnt even thought of a story yet. Hey wait a minute! My kid fell down last evening while riding the cycle, and scratched his knee. My kid reminds me of Ajith Kumar, and a story is already buzzing in my head. I am somehow going to link the movie up with my kid's trip (pun intended).
From this second, I have only one ambition. Adutha padam semmaya irukanum, It should be awesome. Oru maatratha yerpaduthanum, It should rock like crazy.
