Director Nelson Venkatesan’s film Oru Naal Koothu deals with something that almost all Indian youth over 25 have to deal with — weddings.
“The mindset of today’s youngsters has changed. I kept observing people everywhere I went and I found youngsters responding to the topic of weddings with the question, “Why should I get married in such a hurry? This got me thinking and Oru Naal Koothu is the result of this thought process,” says Nelson.
The man, who studied at Loyola before becoming a radio jockey, and then became the head of programming at a popular FM station, says managing music enabled him to understand people’s choices. He discloses that apart from music, movies are his passion.
“I always wanted to make movies and when I met J Selvakumar, a producer and a friend, I decided to go ahead and start this project,” says Nelson, who says that he wanted to showcase the multiple facets of a wedding in his film. “We have touched all dimensions in this.”
Nelson says Indian youngsters face a lot more pressure on the issue of weddings than their peers in other parts of the world. To put his point across, he recalls a chat he had with a friend who is a marine engineer.
“My friend once said he had a chat with a guy from another country who had asked him about Indian weddings. My friend explained, ‘In India, the groom’s parents first meet the bride’s parents. If they like each other, then the boy is made to meet the girl. If they like each other, then the wedding happens’. The foreigner was stunned and replied that in his country, weddings happened if two individuals liked each other,” says Nelson. “In other countries, people aren’t subjected to this pressure of having to get married before they turn 27 or 28. I have met a lot of talented girls whose careers end when they get married,” he claims and remarks, “Our country is obsessed with marriages and are just crazy about weddings.”
The film features Attakathi Dinesh, Mia George, Nivetha Pethuraj, Ramesh Thilak, Karunakaran and Charlie among others. “We tried to focus on the process of a wedding and the reasons people hesitate to get married. It differs from gender to gender. For instance, men hesitate to get married because it means more responsibilities and commitment. For a woman, marriage could mean the end of her interests as she will be with a new family and a new person, and merely understanding them would need two to three years. We have tried to present cases of women from different backgrounds in the film. For instance, we have a woman from the IT background, one with a radio background and another from a rural area,” says Nelson.
Incidentally, ask Nelson if he is married and he gushes. “Yes, I got married when I was 22. It was a love marriage. I met my wife in Big FM and she was an RJ/ singer. She dubs for films. I proposed and she accepted. My father-in-law is a very sweet person and I am very happily married,” he says with a smile.
Finally, is there is a message in his film? Nelson says, “No message whatsoever. I just want to raise this question about why this system is so obsessed with weddings. Give people space. Allow them to get married when they are really ready.”