Kerala State Film Awards: I am glad Ottamuri Velicham won on International Women’s Day: Rahul Riji Nair

Rahul Riji Nair, the director of

Ottamuri Velicham

that bagged the Best Film award at Kerala State Film Awards has no words to express his happiness. The director is extremely glad to receive the award for the film. The film's actors

Vineetha Koshy

and Pauly Valsan too have won the special jury mention and best character actress awards respectively. The engineering graduate from Kollam has left his six digit salary to pursue his passion for cinema and is here winning the Best Film award for his first directorial.

Rahul tells us about his movie and life...

How does it feel to bag the State award for your debut film?

I am on cloud nine. I cannot believe that my humble attempt is being recognised as the best movie.

Tell us about Ottamuri Velicham.

It is a movie about marital rape, made on a small canvas. It is about the struggle of a woman who is subjected to sexual abuse by her own husband. I am extremely glad that it bagged the award on International Women’s Day. We took six months to make the film. The movie has

Vineetha Koshi

and Pauly Valsan playing the lead roles and both have won State awards along with me.

How did you come up with the story?

I was in search of a good theme to make a movie and I accidently bumped into the idea of marital rape during this quest. It was a subject which has great relevance but not tackled by many. So, I decided to expand it into a script and make my first movie on it.

Tell us about yourself.

I am a B-tech and MBA graduate who was working in a multinational company till recently. I quit my job with a six-digit salary to pursue a career in films and I am grateful to my guru, family and friends for supporting my decision to make films. I got married at the age of 21 and my wife is a pillar of support.