Rajiv Menon

As his profile as an ad film-maker improved, Rajiv Menon worked on a few documentaries for filmmakers including Girish Karnad and Shyam Benegal. Karnad consequently offered him the opportunity to be the cinematographer for the Kannada film Jokumaraswamy in 1990, but the project was stalled after its lead actor Shankar Nag died in a car crash the day before the shoot. Another proposed film, Agniputhri was also shelved soon after its announcement.[6] The following year, cinematographer P. C. Sreeram picked Menon to replace him for the shoot of Pratap Pothen’s Telugu road film, Chaitanya (1991), starring Nagarjuna and Gautami. Menon has since revealed that his first assignment was a "physically and mentally exhausting" film to shoot, as it was full of chase scenes involving boats and motor cycles, and that he "couldn’t wait to get back to commercials".[6] He then worked with Karnad on a Kannada film titled Cheluvi (1992), to make up for the previous missed opportunity. During the period, Menon notably turned down the opportunity to work with M. Night Shyamalan on his directorial debut, Praying with Anger (1992), and on the chance to work as the lead actor in Mani Ratnam's romantic drama, Roja (1992).[6]

Menon was then approached by Mani Ratnam to shoot Bombay (1994), a film centred on events that occurred leading up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and the increased religious tensions that led to the Bombay riots. As a part of his instructions, Menon needed to depict the scenes before the riots as beautiful as possible. So, Menon suggested shooting in the rains to achieve the effect. The team shot the interiors of homes in Pollachi in Tamil Nadu and the exteriors were shot in Kasargod, and Kannur village in Kerala, while the song sequence Uyire was shot at Bekal Fort.[8][9] Menon described that the success of the film "changed his life".[6]

AVM Productions wanted to make a film to commemorate its 50th anniversary in 1997 and signed on Prabhu Deva to play a lead role and A. R. Rahman to score the music for a potential project. The production studio revealed that they were looking for a new director and Rahman suggested the name of Rajiv Menon to make his directorial debut.[10] Menon thought about the offer for two months and was ultimately convinced by Rahman and Mani Ratnam to accept the project titled Minsara Kanavu.[11] Arvind Swamy was then signed up for a role as was Hindi actress Kajol, to make her debut in Tamil films. The film was released in January 1997 and was successful at the Chennai box office, notably outperforming Mani Ratnam's political drama Iruvar (1997), which was released on the same day. After audiences were initially unhappy with the sad climax of the film, distributors reverted and used an alternate ending which had also been shot for the film.[11] A critic from Indolink.com gave the film a positive review, stating that "Minsara Kanavu is again a triangular love story with a little difference. It has good entertainment value, awesome cinematography and excellent songs and choreographed dances."[12] The film was partially re-shot and released by ABC Films in October 1997 in Hindi as Sapnay to capitalise on Kajol's popularity in Northern India, earning above average reviews from critics.[13]

After the success of his maiden venture, Menon was signed by producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu to direct a film under his production in the final quarter of 1998. Menon announced he had begun pre-production work on a project titled Theekkul Viralai Vaithal during November 1998, with the title taken from a line by Subramania Bharati.[14][15] Menon subsequently wanted a bigger storyline and scripted a screenplay based on the Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility and the project was renamed as Kandukondain Kandukondain. Menon claimed that the story of two sisters reflected in the film were reminiscent of him and his brother through difficult parts of their lives.[16] Featuring an ensemble cast of actors including Mammootty, Ajith Kumar, Abbas, Aishwarya Rai and Tabu, the film was highly anticipated prior to release owing to its high production values and popular soundtrack by Rahman. After most of the production was complete in November 1999, Menon wanted a rough copy of the film to be previewed by the village audience first, to ensure that they could relate to the subject, after his previous film failed to fare well in rural areas.[16] After showing parts of the film, they eventually held a group discussion before thanking the volunteers with gifts, while receiving positive feedback.[16]

Made on a budget of ₹4 crore, the film opened to positive reviews from film critics. The Indian Express stated that it was "a progressive film encouraging female independence, yet staying a warm family tale in essence" and that "Kandukondain Kandukondain is the kind of film every intelligent movie-goer ought not to miss", making it "a wonderful watch".[17][18] The film successfully completed 150 days at the box office in Tamil Nadu, becoming a box office success.[19] Menon chose to bring the film to North Indian audiences too, but opted against dubbing the film and submitted a final copy with English subtitles. He felt that the strong elements of Carnatic music, Subramanya Bharathi's poetry and the ambience of Karaikudi, were exclusively made for a Tamil backdrop.[20][21] The film was showcased at the Regus London Film Festival in November 2011, and critics from the UK newspaper The Guardian rated it as amongst the top 12 films out of 270. Critic Peter Bradshaw noted it "is an entertaining reinvention of the novel" and adds that "the richly complicated plot allows it to be exuberantly transposed to modern-day India", ranking it alongside Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.[22][23][24] Menon showed the film across the world, including having screenings at the Washington Film Festival in April 2001, Locarno Film Festival in August 2002 and the Tiburon International Film Festival in March 2004.[25][26] Menon discussed the potential of a Hindi version of the film with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Irrfan Khan but the project did not materialise.[27]

The release of Menon's second and third feature films were separated by eighteen years. In early 2001, Menon began writing Spin, a Hinglish film based on a real-life relationship between a child with muscular dystrophy and cricketer Anil Kumble, who was set to play the lead role. The project however did not materialise, and he stopped working on revising the script soon after.[28][29][30] In 2006, Menon worked on a Hindi adaptation of the comedy drama Fiddler on the Roof, and hoped to sign Amitabh Bachchan to play the lead role. However, the project was put on hold and eventually did not materialise.[31][32] Menon later narrated a script to Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan for a project titled Dhun during late 2008, and the pair agreed to work on the film. The script was inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Abhimaan (1973) but failed to take off after the actors became busy with other projects.[33][34][35] Menon then agreed to work on a biopic of Carnatic singer M. S. Subbulakshmi for producer Somaprasad during January 2012, which would be based on the book MS, A Life In Music by T. J. S. George. However, in February 2013, Menon confirmed that he would begin work on an unrelated project with a similar script and a bigger budget, and that Vidya Balan had agreed to essay the lead role of the singer.[36][37] Soon after the project was confirmed, Somaprasad filed for a stay on the film's production and subsequently won a court case to prevent Menon from making the film.[38][39] Apart from writing and scrapping potential film ideas, Menon continued work as a teacher at his film institute and as a director for advertisements. He also worked with Mani Ratnam as the cinematographer for the director's films, Guru (2007) and Kadal (2013).[40][41]

After a brief gap in feature films, he is coming back with his latest creation, Sarvam Thaala Mayam (2019) featuring G. V. Prakash Kumar. The film is set in a musical background and tells the story of an aspiring percussionist.[42]

• 2001 - Ussele Ussele - Tamil pop album featuring singers: Sreenivas, Karthik and Timmy

• Kichu Kichu - Naina (2002)