Gautham Karthik on Mr. Chandramouli, finding his form back and sharing screen space with father

Five years since his acting debut with Mani Ratnam’s Kadal, actor Gautham Karthik has come a long way with his share of highs and lows. Despite a shaky start and a few bad film choices, he redeemed himself in 2017 with projects such as Rangoon, Ivan Thanthiran and Hara Hara Mahadevaki, which not only clicked at the box office but established him as a star in the making. Ahead of the release of his latest film Mr. Chandramouli this week, Gautham opens up in this exclusive chat with Firstpost about his current form, sharing screen space with his father and veteran actor Karthik, and why choice of films is very important for him.

[caption id=“attachment_4661641” align=“alignnone” width=“1238”]  Regina Cassandra and Gautham Karthik in a still from Mr. Chandramouli. YouTube[/caption]

Mr. Chandramouli is Thiru’s return to direction after a gap of four years. Gautham said he has been planning to work with Thiru for a long time. “Through a common friend, Thiru and I have been in touch and we’ve been planning to work together. Things fell in place through producer Dhananjayan who brought this opportunity. He’s close to me as well as Thiru, and brought us together for this project. I really liked the script as it has elements of various genres. This project gave me the opportunity to check my limitations as an actor and also allows me to see which genre suits me the best.” In the film, Gautham plays a character called Raghav, who is a boxer.

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On why he signed the project, Gautham said that he has been a fan of Thiru’s work and his willingness to do something different. “He’s always strived hard to do something different. Be it Samar or Naan Sigappu Manithan, he has earnestly tried something that has never been attempted before. In Mr. Chandramouli too, we’ve attempted something different which I don’t want to reveal now. Let that be the surprise element and I’m sure audiences will love it. I loved my character’s journey, especially in the second half of the film and it’s sure to take viewers by surprise.”

Mr. Chandramouli is a special film for Gautham because it gave him the opportunity to share screen space with his father for the first time. Veteran Tamil actor Karthik has played a pivotal role in the film, due for release on 6 July. “It was an emotional moment to work alongside dad. Even though I come from a film family, I never got to spend time on film sets because I was away from home, studying in Ooty. This was the first time I really got to see dad act from close quarters and the experience made me realise why he’s a legend. This is a memory for a lifetime and I’ll cherish it.”

Gautham is basking in the runaway success of adult comedy _Iruttu Arayil Murattu Kuthu_ (IAMK) but he is not perturbed by box office pressure. “IAMK was made for a different set of audiences and I’m glad it worked. I can’t compare its success with Mr. Chandramouli because this film caters to all kinds of audiences. As a team, we’re confident we’ve made a good film that will appeal to everybody. If the film works, I’ll be happy. If it doesn’t work, I won’t be disappointed because we’ve made a good film.”

One of the highlights of Mr. Chandramouli so far has been the sensual beach song ‘Yedhedho Aanene’, featuring Gautham and Regina Cassandra. The response for the song has stunned the entire team, including Gautham who describes the song as magic created by cinematographer Richard M Nathan and choreographer Brinda. “When Thiru told me there’ll be a beach song, both Regina and I had our qualms about how it’ll look on screen. But Thiru convinced us that it won’t look vulgar. When I saw the video and the response from audiences, I think it was sheer magic created by our DoP Richard and Brinda. Richard didn’t use lights to shoot the song. He just used natural sunlight and mirrors which made the visuals stand out. Brinda ma’am choreographed it in such a way that it looked sensual but never vulgar. If not for their efforts and vision and Thiru’s conviction in the song, we couldn’t have pulled it off.”

Finally, talking about finding his form back, Gautham said he has proved himself as an actor with films such as Rangoon and Ivan Thanthiran. “Now, it’s time to prove myself as a star with box office numbers. After last year, I’m choosing my projects cautiously, striking a balance between content-rich and commercial films.”