[41] Prior to release, the film became the first Tamil project to have a music soundtrack premiere outside of India, with a successful launch at the BAFTA in London. [40] Originally planned as a d Jessie with Mahesh Babu in the lead role, the actor's refusal prompted Menon to make the Tamil version first. Vaaranam Aayiram won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. The film's production process became noted for the strain and the hard work that Suriya had gone through to portray the different roles with production taking close to two years. I decided to volunteer with ISC because I had heard great things from my mother, who had also volunteered with the agency. [28] Shobana was also duly replaced by a newcomer, Andrea Jeremiah to portray the character of Kalyani in the film. [69] The film saw him collaborate again with music composer Harris Jayaraj, for the first time since their spat in 2008, while writers Shridhar Raghavan and Thiagarajan Kumararaja were both also involved in the screen-writing process. Gautham married Preethi Menon and they have 3 sons. [27] During production, the film ran into further casting trouble with Simran dropping out her assigned role and was replaced by Shobana after another actress, Tabu, also rejected the role. Real Name : Gautham Menon : Age: 45 … His current age 47 years.His Father’s Name is Not Known and mother’s name is Not Known. [11], The success of the film led producer Vashu Bhagnani to sign him on to direct the Hindi language remake of the film, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001), starring Madhavan alongside Dia Mirza and Saif Ali Khan. [7] During the period, he was inspired by films such as Dead Poets Society (1989) and Nayakan (1987) and expressed his desire to his parents to change his career path and become a filmmaker. [93], Gautham married Preethi Menon and they have 3 sons. Gautham came back this year and quickly made a positive impression on all those who worked with him. [17] The film released in August 2006 and went on to become his third successive hit film in Tamil and once again, he won rave reviews for his direction. [86], According to The Hindu's Udhav Naig, Menon's films are "regulated by a matrix of strong middle-class values", and also have biographical elements which, according to Menon, are inspired by his own life.
[36] The film was made at a budget of 150 million rupees and became a commercial success, bringing in almost 220 million rupees worldwide.
[23], He was then signed on to direct a venture starring Kamal Haasan and produced by Kaja Mohideen, and initially suggested a one-line story which went on to become Pachaikili Muthucharam for the collaboration.