By Krishna (aka Caesium)
If the wiki article is to be believed, GVM’s 50th birthday is next week. Using that as a chance to write this article (mostly from memory) – a collection of memorable mini-moments from our Menon’s movies.
Minnale (2001):
Poopol Poopol song freeze-framing to Pepsi sponsored Minnale! (I’d equally credit HJ and GVM for this one)
Kaakha Kaakha (2003):
Open curtains – “Ippadithan irukanum nu sollala.. Ipdi irundha nalla irukum nu solren..” and its poignant echo in the climax.
Upon Pandya’s first call to Surya, Surya takes Jothika via the back door. She casually asks “is this how you normally exit?” And he responds “sometimes”. This casual tone, when they just received a threat, was so fresh. To stay cool was actually kinda massy, but it was done in a classy way here.
Vettaiyadu Vilayadu (2006):
In a flashback, Kamal and Prakash Raj encounter a few villains. Kamalini gets hurt and Prakash Raj rushes her to hospital immediately (while Kamal is somewhere a little away still fighting the bad guys). Despite that, docs couldn’t save Kamalini. Kamal is devastated.
In current time, Kamal is hunting for the serial killers knowing they are also responsible for Prakash Raj’s daughter’s death. During the investigation, he talks about Prakash Raj to a fellow cop and says “I owe him that. Actually, I owe him more than that”. That second line was such a subtle echo of that flashback scene where Prakash Raj tries to save Kamalini. I was just blown away by how subtlety GVM establishes the emotional connections.
Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007):
“Who said bad things can’t happen to good people?”
Vaaranam Aayiram (2008):
As an elderly couple, Surya invites Simran to dance, dances with her, seats her back on couche, sits on the floor by her side & gently massages her foot.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (2010):
Simbu suddenly wakes up from a nap with a flash of an idea. Goes to Ganesh and says “Luck favors brave illa. Luck favors the intelligent. Tomorrow is Sunday, so let’s focus on church”. This by itself was smart enough. The next line by Ganesh made it out right brilliant! “Indha oorla veedungala vida church dhaan neraya iruku..” An example of how self aware GVM is of his own plot holes and letting other characters poke holes at his hero’s lines.
Nadunisi Naigal (2011):
<Skip> (Sometimes you push boundaries and become a pioneer. Sometimes you push boundaries and get burnt. This one, for me, falls in the latter category)
Neethane En Ponvasandham (2012):
The teaser moment: Samantha & Jiiva sit in a terrace. She sings “.. Oru raja vaazhkai naalai nam sondham.” He corrects “un sondham”. She says “apo naan gaaaali” with a few extra a’s.
Yennai Arindaal (2015):
In the unakenna venum song, the daughter writes a msg for her mom in a helium balloon and sends it up. The nice touch was, there would be a small spelling mistake in it and she would correct it with a ^ in between.
Acham Enbadhu Madamaiyada (2016):
While Simbu and Manjima are watching TV late at night, she says she’s a tad hungry, noting that it’s 12am and they had dinner at 8pm (which itself was a surprise to me, as she cared to explain that). Simbu goes to the kitchen and gets her something. What caught my attention was what he gets. Had he got just a chocolate, it would’ve been “just ok”. Had he made omelette or dosa, it would’ve been “too much”. Instead, he gets an ice cream with some fruit toppings – which suggests that he cares to put in some effort to make it, but not showing all his cards (yet)..
Ennai Noki Payum Thotta (2019):
Hey Nijame song in soul-soothing voice of Bombay Jayshree. Tough luck that it got overshadowed by Maruvarthai.
Skipping his shorts in Navarasa (2021), Puthum pudhu kaalai (2020), Kutty Story (2021) & Paava kadhaigal (2020) and other language features
Vendhu thanindhadhu kaadu (2022):
Mallipoo song – humanizing everyone in the room, even if they’re goons. Simbu is hardly even there in the song.
Thanks, G, for these moments. Happy 50th birthday! May this be a special birthday. (Mathematically, it already is: your DOB adds to your age: 25/2/23 → 25+2+23=50 :D)
– A fan of GVM, before he became GVM, or even GM (who was credited as just ‘Gautham’ in Minnale)
Baradwaj Rangan 
hari prasad
February 18, 2023
Let me share my favorite / memorable (for me) Gautham movie moments here
Minnale :
When Maddy and his gang go to find out who’s that American Mappillai by visiting his house , Vivek at the back stylishly puts a matchbox at his pocket and with a swag , he tosses off his cigarette..
Whether it was GVM’s input or Vivek’s improvisation , that little moment was the rare time a comedian beat the hero in terms of being cool.
Kaakha Kaakha :
The conversation that Jyothika has with Suriya at her Pondicherry lake house after the Ennai Konjam Maatri song and Suriya’s subsequent voice-over.
For me , Kaakha Kaakha is the most entertaining Gautham movie.
Vettaiyaadu Vilayadu :
Everyone either says the opening scene or that scene where Kamal barges into Jyothika’s room to save her , but for me , my favorite scenes were the scene where we learn how Kamal correctly guessed the place where the bodies got buried in America with that dictaphone and the following scene after the room invasion scene where Kamal and Jyothika go on for dinner and have a long conversation till they reach their respective hotel rooms.
My mother , who’s a big Kamal fan often says that Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu is the movie that properly used the romantic hero ( Kadhal Ilavarasan) aspect of Kamal after a long time and the romance reminded her of the charming Kamal she fell for in the 70s and the early 80s.
She became a GVM fan just because he made Vettaiyaadu Vilayadu with her ” aal “.
Pachaikili Muthucharam :
The scene where Andrea questions Sarathkumar , ” Jyothika apadi enna sollita nu nee ava pinnala pona , I’ve been saying the same stuff ever since I fell for you”.
Pachaikili Muthucharam was a really good movie , I don’t know why Gautham hates it a lot , Sarath , contrary to popular belief was good , Jo in one of her best roles , Harris composed a cracker of a soundtrack , the rare North India villain character that really worked..
I mean guys , give it a shot again during his birthday.
Vaaranam Aayiram :
It’s another one of those long love conversation scenes.
There was a long conversation scene that happens after the Priya character visits Suriya at Dehradun to meet him after 6 years.
That scene explained why Suriya took a really long time to say just okay to marry her but unfortunately the scene was deleted in both the theatrical and DVD versions and straightway the Annul Mele song plays.
That scene would have made the relationship between Suriya and Priya deeper.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya:
Of course , the scene where Karthik meets Jessie at her home after she cancels her wedding and the whole Mannipaya song after that.
Hate his “wannabe Peterness” , his “erangi adikanum ” attitude and all , but Gautham is a master when it comes to writing romance in Tamil cinema.
Nadunisi Naaigal :
Well… the scenes featuring Samantha , I guess?!?
Neethane En Ponvasantham :
The terrace scene (obviously!) and the conversation Varun and Nithya have after the Ennodu Vaa song.
For me , Neethane En Ponvasantham is a misunderstood classic and I like it especially for the close to real characters , the dialogues , the songs etc.
I think people expected a Minnale sort of cutesy love story but what they got was a practical take on it , even VTV’s first half was a bit sugar-coated to suit the masses.
Yennai Arindhaal :
The whole Unakenna Venum Sollu song..
AYM :
The picturization of the songs told a better story than the supposed story the movie had.
ENPT:
The small conversation Dhanush has with Megha Akash at the latter’s birthday party at the resort.
Guitar Kambi , edhuvum solla thonala thambi
VTK :
Two standouts , one is the scene where Muthu , as a changed man has a chat with Sridharan while their respective bosses ask them to wait outside the hotel room and the scene where Kargi tests Muthu’s loyalty with the pistol.
That breakdown scene in the short film GVM did in Putham Puthu Kaalai for Amazon , that was another showcase for MS Baskar to flex his acting muscles is an another memorable moment.
I can’t remember much of that Vaan Magal short film in Paava Kadhaigal and that one he did with Amala Paul for Kutty Story.
That’s it.
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hari prasad
February 18, 2023
Here’s the link to that deleted scene in Vaaranam Aayiram I talked about:
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brangan
February 18, 2023
hari prasad: I’m glad they cut this scene out, because Thamarai’s lyrics convey everything in an equivalent:
For example, “maram thedum mazhaithuli” = “naan en veetta vittu vandhitten to check if you will have me”
“Oru siruvali irunthathuve idhayathilae idhayathilae” = “his vali-filled memories of Meghna that he talks about, and her vali of five years without him”
Every line in the scene you posted is in the lyrics 🙂
Oh, how I love this song. One of Harris’s best, and easily, easily, my favourite in this album.
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hari prasad
February 18, 2023
Baddy , GVM’s gonna celebrate his 50th birthday next week right , you can do a podcast on him , why you like his movies , the impact the songs in his movies made , what might be the reason behind him having a big mass following despite being a ” classy ” director , hell idhan chance nu you can talk about why you like Neethane En Ponvasantham as your movie of the month special , since it is a love movie and the month is February , so you know..
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hari prasad
February 18, 2023
Speaking of Annul Mele, I have a silly gripe with that song.
My dad really loves that song but whenever the song plays on TV , my dad would start his ramayanam on why didn’t he give birth to a responsible son like Suriya from Vaaranam who would serve the nation one day and starts berating me and my brother as dhanda soru pasanga , edhukum laayaku illadhavanga.
So whenever someone plays that song on YouTube in our TV , I’d just run away from the hall and go somewhere else to just let my old man listen to that song peacefully without any unnecessary attacks on us…
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Caesium
February 18, 2023
Thanks, BR, for hosting this!
@hari prasad: Lovely selection. Totally agreed on the Minnale / Maddy swag moment! To borrow a GVM line, mechanical engineer na oru fire venam.. 😎
I loved the Sridharan character in VTK. I wished he had more of him. Muthu-Sridharan was not as balanced as SatyaDev-Victor was in YA. Hoping that changes in VTK-2.
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KS
February 19, 2023
Speaking of the Annul mele song, the song is nice, but feels like given the tune, it could have been better. The voice is a bit too dull. What I love even more than the song itself is the short bgm based on the song. Its slaps! (starts at 00:52, though even the other variations are good)
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KS
February 19, 2023
GVM certainly deserves an appreciation post for giving us some great memories over the past two decades.
I think his most special quality is that he has great taste. Thats not something that can be taught or learned easily, nor is it seen much in others in the industry. He has an unmatchable eye for aesthetics, reflected in every little detail and creative choice. Whether it be the architecture of the houses, the clothes the actors wear, the restaurants they meet at, the uniquely picturesque locations (whether Indian like in Rasaali, or foreign like in Hosanna),there is always a certain impressive
dignity to all of these. Posh and nonchalantly stylish in a restrained way, without looking tacky or wannabe rich. His lead actors inevitably look their best in his movies. And he does all of this with his modest budget (while others spends hundreds of crores and still look tawdry). Rasanai-ulla manushan.
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hari prasad
February 20, 2023
He showed his characters as classy people without making them look too elite and behave like Ambani oda athai pasanga.
Unlike his guru Mani Ratnam , Gautham has always succeeded in taking class to the masses.
If Mani is the strict , grumpy college principal who finds it tough to control the students , Gautham is like the cool , friendly lecturer who pulls it off quite effortlessly.
I don’t believe in the films shape our society thing , but Gautham and Pa.Ranjith are the exceptions to it.
Gautham’s movies made a lot take engineering especially mechanical , a lot of people went to the gym because of Vaaranam Aayiram , a lot joined the police and the army, everyone at some point at their life bought a guitar atleast for vetti bandha , his movies are responsible for the big profits the coffee shops in Chennai make , he made people approach love in a decent way and he made our soup boys/ girls move on in life after getting their hearts broken.
I don’t know about the impact GVM made as a director in terms of filmmaking and all , but as a cultural phenomenon , he had really made a long lasting impact.
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Caesium
February 21, 2023
@hariprasad: great points. Not mention uptick in blue jean shirts.. 😛
@KS: again, great points. That analogy with MR sounds on point and reminds of a comparison someone made between Kadal and Mariyaan. Both released around the same time, while the former was “godly and distant”, the latter was “earthly and relatable”.
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hari prasad
February 21, 2023
Before Kadal and Maryan , we had the superb Neerparavai which felt like a throwback to the 80s Bharathiraja movies , especially Kadalora Kavithaigal but was a story of a fisherman village , which is rarely explored here in Tamil Cinema.
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