VTV’s Hindi version kicks off

Gautham Menon has started work on the remake with Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson.
Ace director Gautham Vasudev Menon has started work on his Hindi remake of his superhit Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (VTV) with Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson. The Tamil original, considered by many as path-breaking, gave an all-new image for the lead pair of Simbu and Trisha. Though the Hindi remake initially had Trisha reprising her role, the actress was unceremoniously dropped from the project after a photo shoot and replaced with Amy Jackson, who shot into fame with A L Vijay’s Madrassapattinam.
The latest we hear is that Gautham is trying out a ‘look shoot’ at the same locations where he shot VTV, including a popular seaside restaurant on ECR.A source close to the director said, “This shoot was just to get the ‘feel’ of the film. The actual shoot will take place in Mumbai from next month.” Music composer A R Rahman’s superb tunes from the Tamil original will be retained for the Hindi version, which will feature Gautham’s regular technical team consisting of art director Rajeevan and editor Antony.
The grapevine has it that the director has made changes to the original script to suit the taste of Bollywood audiences. Instead of a Chennai Hindu boy falling in love with a Kerala Christian girl, talk is that the lead will be a Maharashtrian or Punjabi guy who falls for a British girl and goes in search of her all over Europe. Sources state that Gautham has employed new Hindi writers to make suitable changes to suit the Bollywood audiences.
Noted poet, story and screenplay specialist Javed Akhtar was recently in Chennai supervising the script and writing the lyrics for the Hindi version. A source close to the development said, “Javed saab and Gautham hit off well. The lyricist’s inputs will be taken into consideration as Gautham is particular that the Hindi flick should not come across as a routine south Indian remake.” Gautham, it looks, is clear about not repeating the mistakes he committed while remaking Minnale.
Follow us on Twitter for more stories