Vignesh Raja Reveals Most Important Advice Gautham Menon Gave Him After Watching Por Thozhil | Exclusive

Tamil director Vignesh Raja has impressed all with his film, Por Thozhil. Having released in theatres in June, the film recently released on SonyLiv, and audiences are praising it on multiple social media platforms. The film stars R. Sarathkumar and Ashok Selvan in the lead. While the psychological thriller had audiences hooked, Vignesh told News18 exclusively that director Gautham Menon also liked the film.

Vignesh had previously revealed that Gautham Menon’s hit crime thriller Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006) introduced him to the serial killer genre. Speaking with us, the filmmaker revealed that not only did Gautham reach out to him via a phone call to praise the film but also shared his feedback when they met thereafter.

“I had a call from Gautam sir himself and then met him after the release. We’ve had multiple conversations post-release. He said he overall liked it and he liked the control over the craft. He advised me that move forward to not get swayed by external names and numbers and just focus on telling the story,” Vignesh told us.

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Given that Gautham has also been exploring his acting side, we asked Vignesh if we could see the director-actor in one of his upcoming movies. The filmmaker confessed, “I would love to, if an opportunity comes up, if I’m able to write a character where (he could be cast), I would definitely jump on to it.”

Speaking of the feedback from the audience, Vignesh said that while he has embraced the positive responses, he is yet to come to terms with the success from within. “Yes, (the success) has hit me but not from within. I can see what the response has been, I can see from the calls that I have been getting. From within, to me, we set out to make a film and once the film was done and I got a chance to watch the film during the mixing theatre one final time before we released it, to me, at that time, I had my verdict on the film. To me, that was the most gratifying moment, and a little bit disappointed also because I know where I faltered and the shortcomings and all of that,” he said.

“To me, my assessment of the film, that’s my point of reference in terms of how the film has turned out but again, in terms of the response, the film has received, it’s extremely gratifying and we’ve all been pleasantly surprised that the audience has lapped it up and the film has gone on to do the numbers that it has done so far,” he added.

Vignesh also added that with the success of the film, he also understands that he has pressure and responsibility when he takes up the next project. “The pressure comes from the responsibility because there were a lot of people who texted me, spoken to me, they all say this one thing: ‘Thanks for not wasting our time. Thanks for the experience.’ They don’t say they liked the movie or if it is a nice movie. A lot of people thanking me for the film felt like there is a responsibilty on my shoulder. I felt they think that this is the way they are looking at it so that will be there the next time as well,” he said.

When asked him if he has any movie narrowed down, he said, “There are a few options that I am considering but I have not zeroed in on anything as of now. I am just going to take some time. That responsibility factor is there because once I commit to an idea, it (will take) about two years of my life so it is a big decision. So I am just going to take some time and make the right decision.”