From 'Kaakha Kaakha' to 'Yennai Arindhaal': A look at Gautham Menon's understanding of righteous cops and passionate women

Bangalore: Gautham Menon has directed more than a dozen movies in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in a decade and a half. The genres he has sunk his teeth into are a handful - romantic drama, crime, psychological thriller. His filmography can be put into any of those drawers.

He's one of the few filmmakers who gives importance to female characters in his movies in Tamil cinema. A clear character arc is present for women even if they appear for a shorter duration compared to men.

'Kaakha Kaakha' marks the valiant shift of Gautham's theme from his debut which was a romantic comedy. Suriya is a no holds barred cop. He listens to his instinct alone. He has few friends but more enemies. He meets an incredible schoolteacher played by Jyothika. They develop what is generally known as companionship within a couple of random, sometimes agreed, meetings. While the movie sharply focuses on the crimes committed by a gang of nutheads, sharper focus on the love story between the cop and the teacher is soothingly delicious.

In another cop and mouse thriller, 'Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu', Kamal Haasan in the midst of hunting down criminals gets good time on-screen to fall in love twice. It's easy for him the first time. All it takes is a bowlful of Kamal charm and Kamalini Mukherjee is naturally flattered. The second time though he has to deal with flushing the past down the toilet. Jyothika has just stepped out of a bad marriage whereas Kamal is trying to move on after his wife gets killed because he has made some rotten eggs angry. Lyricist Thamarai holds the magic pencil for Gautham's moods. The poetic "Uyirile" narrates the intricacies of commingling of two grownups' accepting and living truthfully.

Both these films have certain common factors. Apart from Harris Jayaraj and Thamarai, the big labels attached to the films, also, they are about cops and their love stories where much loved women are swallowed by the passion of injustice. Gautham Menon's upcoming 'Yennai Arindhaal' is said to beguile us in a similar format. Ajith Kumar as a cop, gorgeous ladies Trisha and Anushka, wonderful music by Harris Jayaraj, romance under the blue sky - kind of like Thamarai's lyrics, and with Gautham at the center; this surely makes for a vivacious week at the cinemas.

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