The youngest world chess champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, has revealed his favourite films in Tamil, Telugu, English and Hindi. Talking to ChessBase India, the Indian chess grandmaster revealed which are the films he keeps going back to. (Also Read: Atlee believes this is why all his films are ‘working and making money at the box office’)
Gukesh Dommaraju’s favourite films
When asked about his favourite films, Gukesh replied, “In Tamil, it’s like…probably Vaaranam Aayiram. Telugu, Geetha Govindam. And Hindi, I like some old movies, but probably Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. English, not a huge fan, but…I think About Time was quite good.”
Vaaranam Aayiram is a 2008 film directed by Gautam Vasudev Menon, starring Suriya and Sameera Reddy in the lead roles. Parasuram’s 2018 film Geetha Govindam stars Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna. Zoya Akhtar directed the 2011 film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin. Richard Curtis’ 2013 film About Time sees Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, and Bill Nighy in lead roles.
In a 2023 interview with the same publication, Gukesh revealed that he used to watch a ‘lot of movies’ during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. He also said that it ‘got so bad’ that at one point, he was ‘watching two movies a day’. However, the chess champion stated that he stopped watching so many movies because he realised it was detrimental to his sport.
“I still watch them. Entertainment is also important, and I developed some good habits after I started reading. From Queen’s Gambit, I got interested in watching series. But when I’m home, I try to keep it limited to half an hour per day or so. When I travel, I watch more of it so I’m not bored,” he said.
About Gukesh Dommaraju
Gukesh is a chess prodigy born in Chennai to a Telugu family from Andhra Pradesh. He learnt to play chess at age 7 in 2013. He became the youngest world chess champion after defeating China’s Ding Liren in the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin felicitated him in Chennai.