Blockbuster Tamil director Nelson Dilipkumar is the talk of the town after the phenomenal box office success of his latest film, Jailer, starring 'Superstar' Rajinikanth. Having hit the high note with each of his films commercially, the filmmaker recently sat down with acclaimed and National Award-winning Tamil actress Suhasini Maniratnam for a candid conversation about his career, while also revealing the real-life inspiration behind 'Lady Superstar' Nayanthara's character in his directorial debut, Kolamaavu Kokila (2018).
Speaking about how he came up with the story of Kolamaavu Kokila, Nelson said, "The first film I started (Vettai Mannan) was a hero-centric film. Once it didn't take off properly, the basic understanding I gathered over the next 6-7 years was that more than anybody it is ultimately the content that matters the most. I had seen many films during that period and decided that I wanted to do something out of the box that would be entertaining to watch in the theatres. It should neither be too realistic nor too commercial and must be somewhere in between the two, and should get a good result at the box office. "
Upon being queried about the inspiration for Nayanthara's character in Kolamaavu Kokila, Nelson stated, "When I was working on ideas for something that would fit the bill, one day I saw a girl at a coffee shop. She appeared to be soft and quiet in nature and looked calm. Later, after talking to her, when I saw her, she was sitting at some other place and was smoking a cigarette without any worries and she seemed totally different. That one moment was the inspiration behind that character for Kolamaavu Kokila. In the film, she looks very calm to the outside world, but is a peddler. This was the starting point for that character."
Watch Nelson Dilipkumar talk about the inspiration behind Nayanthara's character in Kolamaavu Kokila in the video below: