Dhruva Natchathiram: Did you know Suriya was first choice for the spy film? Here’s why actor walked out

Dhruva Natchathiram, the long-delayed project that marks the first onscreen collaboration of Chiyaan Vikram and Gautham Vasudev Menon, is finally ready for its grand release. Both the fans of the National award-winning actor and celebrated filmmaker, as well as the Tamil cinema lovers are totally excited to watch the spy thriller on big screens, after a long wait.

However, Chiyaan Vikram was not the original choice for the lead role in Dhruva Natchathiram. For the unversed, it was the celebrated actor Suriya, who was initially roped in to play the central character John, in the Gautham Vasudev Menon directorial. But the actor-producer eventually walked out of the project, which also resulted in a years-long cold war between him and the senior filmmaker the once close friends. 

Here's why Suriya walked out of Dhruva Natchathiram

A throwback video, which was taken from Gautham Vasudev Menon's interview with Manorama Online, has been doing rounds on social media after the Dhruva Natchathiram release date was officially announced. In the video, the filmmaker is seen opening up about Suriya's exit from Dhruva Natchathriam. According to director Gautham, Suriya was the first actor he thought would be ideal to play the central character in the upcoming spy thriller, after the scripting was finished. 

"That didn't work out at that point. Somehow, there were some creative differences and Suriya didn't understand, I think, what the ideology of this film was. And that's fair enough. I mean, an actor should be comfortable," revealed Gautham Menon in his chat with Manorama Online, a few years back. "Finally, two-three years down the line, I spoke to Vikram sir and he liked the idea. He said 'Let's do this film' without any hesitation," he further added. 

Watch Gautham Menon's throwback video, below:

Suriya and director Gautham's bond over years

After walking out of Dhruva Natchathiram, Suriya released a press statement, in which he cited creative differences as the reason for his exit from the project. The actor also revealed he waited for over six months for the project, but director Gautham Vasudev Menon made some changes in the script that caused a major delay.

After this incident, Suriya and Gautham drifted apart and did not work together for over 12 years. But, Tamil cinema's much-loved actor-director duo finally buried the hatchet and joined hands once again for Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru, one of the segments in Navarasa, the 2021-released anthology web series which is available for streaming on Netflix. The romantic-musical short film emerged as one of the most popular segments in the series.

ALSO READ: Chiyaan Vikram's Dhruva Natchathiram receives long awaited official update