Debutant director Gautham V.R. opens his film career with an intriguing title 7 Naatkal (Seven Days). Gautham, grandson of yesteryears make-up artist, the late M. Pithambaran (who worked with MGR and NTR, leading stars of South Indian cinema), worked with Tamil director Sundar C before going solo.
This is a crime thriller, he says, written by his father P. Vimal Kumar.
“It was scripted in 2007 for a Kannada film with Puneeth Raj Kumar, but it never got made. I have reworked on it to suit today’s times,” said Gautham.
Gautham’s cousin, Shakthivel Vasu (son of director P. Vasu), and Kannada actress Nikesha Patel play the lead.
This being a murder mystery Gautham obviously is not disclosing much.
What piques interest is the presence of a four-year-old Siberian husky, a trained dog from Korea, playing an important role. Another interesting aspect is Ganesh Venkatram’s role. The trailers reveal Venkatram sporting a salt-and-pepper look and wearing grey contacts.
“I was impressed with Ganesh’s role in Unnai Pol Oruvan [where he played a cop] and wanted to bust the chocolate boy image of most of his films,” said Venkatram.
Venkatram plays the antagonist here while Prabhu is a business magnate.
“I play Prasad, the adopted son of this business tycoon. He relies on Prasad for everything. I enjoyed exploring this character. It was unlike my earlier roles,” said Venkatram.
The supporting cast includes M.S. Bhaskar, Rajeev Pillai, Nasser, Angana Roy and Chinni Jayanth. M.S. Prabhu is the cinematographer. Vishal Chandrashekar has composed music.
“Viewers will be guessing who the culprit is since several characters in the story had a motive to commit the murder,” added Gautham, who owes his love for cinema to his grandfather.
“I grew up listening to his stories of MGR and NTR and it was their lives behind the screens that filled me with admiration. I always wanted to work in cinema,” he said.
7 Naatkal is produced by Million Dollar Movies and releases in India on June 2.
