Dhruva Natchathiram: Chapter One – Yuddha Kaandam

For the 1993 film, see Dhuruva Natchathiram.

Dhruva Natchathiram
File:Dhruva Natchathiram poster.jpg First look poster
Directed by	Gautham Menon
Written by	Gautham Menon
Produced by	Gautham Menon Venkat Somasundaram Reshma Ghatala Senthil Veerasamy P. Madan
Starring	Vikram Aishwarya Rajesh Ritu Varma Parthiban Simran Raadhika Sarathkumar
Cinematography	Manoj Paramahamsa Jomon T. John Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran
Edited by	Praveen Antony
Music by	Harris Jayaraj
Production companies	Ondraga Entertainment Kondaduvom Entertainment
Distributed by	Escape Artists Motion Pictures
Release date	December 11, 2017 (2017-12-11)
Running time	171 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Dhruva Natchathiram (English: Pole star) is an upcoming Tamil-language spy-thriller film starring Vikram, Aishwarya Rajesh and Ritu Varma in lead roles. The film is written and directed by Gautham Menon with music composed by Harris Jayaraj and cinematography done by Jomon T. John, Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran and Manoj Paramahamsa. The film began production in January 2017 and till date has been shot in seven countries.

Cast

• Vikram as John / Yohan / Dhruv
• Aishwarya Rajesh as Ragini
• Ritu Varma as Anupama
• Parthiban
• Simran
• Raadhika Sarathkumar
• Dhivyadharshini
• Shravanthi Sainath
• Maya Sundarakrishnan
• Sathish Krishnan
• Munna Simon
• Vamsi Krishna
• Salim Baig
• Preethi Nedumaran

Production

Development

Following the successes of Kaakha Kaakha (2003) and Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), director Gautham Menon and Suriya began discussions on another project featuring the duo. After rejecting two scripts including an action film titled Ennai Nokki Paayum Thotta, Suriya was impressed and accepted to work on the spy-thriller film Dhruva Natchathiram, which Menon hoped to turn into a franchise. Revealed to be produced by Menon too, the team released a series of posters in April 2013 indicating that the film would feature 12 pivotal characters. The film was officially launched at the director's office in May 2013, with a few test shots also taken during the month. A. R. Rahman was confirmed as the film's music composer, while Rajeevan and Anthony were announced as the art director and editor respectively. Menon confirmed later in the month that Parthiepan and Simran had been added to the cast to play supporting roles. Actors Arun Vijay and Sudhanshu Pandey, were also signed on to play characters with negative shades. Trisha was signed on to play the lead female role in the film, after reports that Asin Thottumkal, Sameera Reddy, Amala Paul and Priya Anand had been considered. However, the film's first schedule constantly began to be postponed and ultimately by October 2013, Menon and Suriya parted ways citing creative differences. Suriya released a press note revealing that Menon had been tinkering the script for six months without any such progress and that he could wait no longer as he had committed to other films. He also recalled that the pair had a similar unfruitful experience when making a film titled Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam in early 2004.

Following the release of Yennai Arindhaal (2015), Menon revived Dhruva Natchathiram and revealed he was working on the script by March 2015. Vikram was subsequently signed for the lead role, while Nayanthara was also selected to play the leading female role. The project failed to find financiers, before he picked up pre-production work on the film again during November 2015, hoping to start the film with Jayam Ravi. Despite progress, the film did not take off as a result of Ravi's busy schedule. In November 2016, Menon revived the project with Vikram and began working on the script again. Production began in early January 2017 in New York City, with a series of promotional poster released by the team. Music director was turned to be Menon's favourite Harris Jayaraj replacing A.R.Rahman. Actress Anu Emmanuel was added to the cast and also took part in an initial photoshoot. A two minute teaser released in the same month; it was shot in fourteen hours in New York with a Canon 5D SLR Camera.

Casting

The film began production with only Vikram and Anu Emmanuel as confirmed members of the cast in January 2017. In early February 2017, Anu Emmanuel opted out of the film citing scheduling issues following Vikram's decision to alter his schedule, so that he could simultaneously shoot for Sketch (2018) directed by Vijay Chander. Gautham Menon signed on actress Ritu Varma to replace her, after being impressed by Varma's performance in the Telugu film Pelli Choopulu (2016). Aishwarya Rajesh was also then signed to portray another leading female character in the film, with the project becoming her most high-budget film. The team also re-signed Parthiepan to act in the film, with his character tweaked from his role in the original script.

Jomon later opted out of the film during March 2017 citing scheduling issues and was replaced as the film's cinematographer by Santhana Krishnan, the son of Ravi K. Chandran. Santhana Krishnan also opted out of the film in June 2017 and was replaced by Manoj Paramahamsa, who collaborated with Menon again after Nadunissi Naaygal (2011). During the same month, a bevy of supporting actors were signed to portray roles in the film including veteran actresses Raadhika Sarathkumar and Simran, while rookies actresses Dhivyadharshini, Shravanthi Sainath and Maya Sundarakrishnan were also added to the cast. Three of Menon's former proteges Vamsi Krishna, Salim Baig and Sathish Krishnan also were selected to portray roles, as was Munna Simon.

Filming

Following the shoot of the teaser in New York City, the team moved to Coonoor to begin the first schedule in late January 2017. Following a brief shoot in the town, the team moved to Chennai for a further short schedule. After a schedule break, the shoot continued intermittently throughout Chennai in early 2017 as Vikram simultaneously worked around his commitments for his other film Sketch. During the initial schedules, scenes involving Vikram, Aishwarya Rajesh and Ritu Varma were primarily shot.

Despite initially wanting to film sequences in the USA, the team later chose to use Eastern Europe as the main foreign backdrop for the ease of acquiring permission to shoot and sort out visas. The shoot began in Slovenia during mid-June 2017 with Vikram and the ensemble supporting cast, before moving to Bulgaria by the end of the month. After the completion of their work in Bulgaria, the team moved to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to film scenes in the desert and worked in extremely warm temperatures. Following the end of the schedule in mid-July 2017, Menon revealed that approximately thirty more days of shoot were required.

In late August 2017, the team travelled to Tbilisi, Georgia to continue the shoot, with the ensemble cast joining the schedule. After several days of shoot in Georgia, the team were briefly left stranded after being denied permission to enter Turkey as a result of a document oversight. After two days of no shoot, they were granted permission to travel to Istanbul and continued filming. Following the schedule in Turkey, they returned to Georgia to continue the shoot for ten days.

Release

Dhruva Natchathiram is scheduled to be released in April 2018