'Mammootty will decide who will play which character'; Gautham Vasudev Menon shares his experience

The Gautham Vasudev Menon-directed 'Dominic and the Ladies' Purse', starring Mammootty, is set to hit theatres on January 24. Meanwhile, the director has revealed the story behind the film's creation. In an interview with a media outlet, Menon disclosed that he initially planned to make a film with Manju Warrier but eventually shifted to Dominic and the Ladies' Purse.

"I have a close friendship with Manju Warrier. It was through her that I got to know Neeraj Raj. Neeraj was part of the scriptwriting team for the Malayalam movie ABCD. He is currently working with Martin Prakkat, one of my favourite directors. Manju brought Neeraj to Chennai. He wrote a story for a film I was supposed to direct, with Manju acting in it. However, that project didn’t materialize.

During one of our conversations, I asked Neeraj if he had any other ideas, and that’s when he narrated the story of Dominic. We pitched the story to several actors. From the start, I felt it would suit Mammootty Sir. Neeraj and I met him together. When we explained the concept to him, mentioning it was an investigation story, he said, 'No, Gautham, Kerala is flooded with investigation stories right now, and I’ve done quite a few recently. If you have another subject, let me know.'

I convinced him to listen to the story, assuring him that if he didn’t like it, we could work on another film. Thus we narrated the story and Mammootty sir seemed to like it within half an hour. Finally, he said he enjoyed it and was willing to proceed. When he called the line producer to discuss the casting agency, they responded that Mammootty sir would handle the casting himself.

Mammootty sir decided who would play which character. Sir is someone who watches a lot of films and has a great understanding of them. He often discovers talented actors from smaller roles in other films," Gautham Vasudev Menon shared.

In addition to Neeraj Raj, Dr Suraj Rajan also contributed to the script of Dominic and the Ladies' Purse. The movie is produced under Mammootty Kampany, Binary. The cast includes Vineeth, Gokul Suresh, Lena, Siddique, Vijay Venkatesh, and Vijay Babu, among others.