Nelson Dilipkumar is the talk of the town everywhere after the spectacular box office success of his latest film, Jailer, with 'Superstar' Rajinikanth in the lead role. The hit filmmaker recently sat down for a heart-to-heart conversation with acclaimed and National Award-winning Tamil actress Suhasini Maniratnam to talk about Jailer, while also opening up on his Vettai Mannan with Silambarasan TR, which didn't see the light of the day. Upon being asked whether he would discuss with Simbu about working on Vettai Mannan once again, Nelson said, "Actually, when it comes to that film, I feel I have matured a little better compared to those days. As of now, I can see many flaws in what I made back then. However, I often feel like reshooting it after doing a fresh rework on it from head to tail."
Speaking about how he felt when Vettai Mannan got dropped, Nelson said, "It was difficult because we spent a lot of time and effort into it. But, it was during that time, that I got to learn what was happening at the back end of the film industry and how to keep moving forward. Even though it was a difficult period, it has turned out to be quite helpful today." Addressing the issues at the back end of the film, Nelson stated, "I entered cinema from television. I realized that there were more chances of a film getting stopped only after I came into the cinema industry. It's a difficult process to make a film. I was under the impression that once you start a film, you can get it done. There are a lot of angles for a film to be made. The struggle might come from anywhere. Writing a story is difficult. Narrating it is also tough. Making it is furthermore hard. And, getting the film released is a big and strenuous process. The experience I gained in those 4-5 years was how not to get trapped in that process and bring a product out on time."
Speaking about the problems that might lead to a film getting stopped, Nelson explained, "Sometimes we take a leap of faith. We might want to do something aspiring and that will end up being wrong. Some other times, there might be a financial crunch. Everyone says that Mani Ratnam sir manages everything accordingly. Be it the budget, the shooting, and the quality, from start to end, and I didn't have ten percent of that experience at the time. I'm not stating any particular reason, but it could have been due to my own fault, or the artistes, or the producers, and all these multiple aspects might have possibly added to it going wrong. Had I had a better experience at the time, I could have made it convincingly. I just didn't have that experience. I didn't know crisis management [as a creative person]. Today, I know that to a good extent." He continued, "Prior to Kolamaavu Kokila, I had many offers. Three years after Vettai Mannan, many people kept asking me. But, after Vettai Mannan, I felt that I should make a film and get it released properly. When we make a small film, getting it released on a big scale is difficult. So, I kept all that at the back of my mind and made Kolamaavu Kokila."
Watch Nelson Dilipkumar talk about Vettai Mannan in the video below:
