Director Gaurav Narayanan is just two films old in Kollywood but the vast experience he has gathered working under different directors in the industry equipped him to make the two box office hits. If his debut movie Thoonga Nagaram is a cultural document of the city where he was born and bred, his second one Sigaram Thodu created awareness about using debit cards in ATMs.
Gaurav is at ease working with new comers. He introduced 80 people in his first film! He is never in a hurry to finalise a script and takes his own time to study and research on the subject before venturing out. Sigaram Thodu is a classic example of his meticulous work. “I was very clear. I told Vikram Prabhu the film requires extra effort and would take some time to finish. I researched on the subject for more than six months and visited the police academy to know more about the secret operations,” he says.
Though it was difficult to get permission to shoot in the academy, Gaurav obtained it with his steadfast approach. “The subject was topical. I visited the Puzhal prison to meet a prisoner involved in an ATM robbery. I was shocked to hear that the person decamped with Rs.60 lakh from ATM with just a visiting card. He somehow gathered information about individual account holders to swindle the money,” he says. After seeing Sigaram Thodu , Oslo city mayor invited Gaurav for high tea. “Only after going there I came to know mayor’s wife is also a victim of ATM robbery,” he says.
Even as a child, Gaurav bunked classes to watch movies in theatres. “In those times, I was very sincere in whatever I did. I used to faithfully write down the story of the movie and make note of everything I liked or disliked in the movie. It was a reference material for me. I call it as my bible,” he says.
He still remembers his UG and PG days at The American College. “We were given lot of liberty and I learnt all about screenplay and understood the lighting patterns while working backstage for theatre productions in the college,” he says.
Also being an avid photographer, Gaurav took to extensive travelling during the weekends. After college, when he decided to enter filmdom, his family did not oppose. Given his passion for photography and with the help of a relative, he joined cinematographer Rajarajan as an assistant for the film Simmahsanam. Later he also worked for Karisakattupoove before taking on the mantle of a director. For, hebelieved it to be all powerful.
Gaurav joined director Maharajan’s unit as an assistant director who was busy with Vallarasu and was s imultaneously remaking the movie in Hindi. “As I knew Hindi he took me in as assistant director for Indian , the Hindi version of Vallarasu , starring Shilpa Shetty and Sunny Deol,” he says.
Accompanying Maharajan for story discussions in Bollywood, Gaurav happened to meet Rajkumar Santoshi and through an acquaintance he also met Prabhu Deva who was then planning for Pokkiri . Immediately he offered Gaurav a chance to work. “Though it was a remake of the Telugu flick, we tweaked the script and added Vadivelu episode which became an instant hit,” he recalls.
Gaurav got introduced to K.S. Ravikumar through Gnanavelraja and got the opportunity to work under him. “At that time Ravikumar was busy with post production work of Dasavatharam and wanted me to help the computer graphics team. It was a big learning experience for me,” he says.
Impressed with his work Ravikumar took him aboard for the Jaggubhai project and wanted Gaurav to finalise locations for the movie. “It came as a blessing for me as I got to travel to foreign destinations including Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok, Malaysia and Singapore.”
It was at the audio release function of Adhavan , that he met Durai Dayanidhi and narrated him the story of Thoonganagaram . “It was their maiden production and had they wished they could have gone for Mankatha which was also with them at that time. But they reposed faith in me and encouraged my project. The movie grossed 13 crores and won me best debut director award from Emirates Tamil Association, Dubai,” he beams.
Optimistic by nature, Gaurav never focuses on negativities but brings out the positive aspects in the story. Even in naming the titles for his movies he wants to be positive. A firm believer in script, Gaurav never decides on the cast before working on a script fully. A fitness freak, he believes in the concept ‘sound mind in sound body’. His penchant for thriller movies is obvious. If his first movie was sentimental, Sigaram Thodu was action-packed. “I am still a budding director and wish to earn money for my producers. There is nothing called art for art’s sake in Kollywood at present. Now everything is art for money sake. As an entertainer my job is cut out. I have to keep my audiences in good spirit. When Jurassic World is screened in the adjacent theatre, I know I am in serious competition,” he says.
Unfazed by competition Gaurav is busy with his next project Ippadai Vellum . “I have taken the comedy route this time. It is a beautiful entertainer. The script is ready and I have to choose the actors now,” he says.
