మాస్క్ పెట్టుకోనందుకు యువకుడికి మేకులు కొట్టిన పోలీసులు ?

Acclaimed filmmaker Gautham Menon, renowned for his iconic romantic classics, recently expressed his concerns about the reluctance of South Indian stars to take on romance roles in films. Speaking at the Bengaluru International Film Festival, Menon shared his frustrations, revealing that leading actors from the Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada industries are hesitant to sign up for love stories. “No star actor seems willing to do a romance these days. I approached stars from different industries, but the moment I mentioned it was a romantic film, they either postponed the meeting or avoided it entirely! You should ask them why,” Menon humorously remarked, sparking laughter from the audience.

Despite the challenges, Menon remains committed to creating love stories, a genre that has defined much of his career. “Thankfully, I haven’t run out of romantic stories yet. It’s how my filmmaking journey started, and I intend to continue with it. I love the process of storytelling and seeing audiences connect with my films in theatres. Every movie I’ve made has had an experimental touch. Even with Kaakha Kaakha, it took the audience a while to fully embrace its unique narrative style, but eventually, they loved it,” he said.

Menon, who introduced Naga Chaitanya and Samantha to Telugu cinema with the modern love story Ye Maaya Chesave, which later became a cult favorite, shifted his focus to action-packed films like Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu in Tamil. With romance becoming a rare choice in mainstream cinema, it will be interesting to see if Menon can revive the genre that made him a household name.