A film dedicated to 150-yr-old Kovai post office
Growing up, Praveen Venkataraman used to listen to his father, a postal assistant, narrating stories about post-offices. He got intrigued by the way a post office functions. Later, he decided to make a film that revolves around a post office. Praveen recently released the first look poster of his suspense period drama titled Pothanur Thabal Nilayam.
“My family hails from a place called Pothanur in Coimbatore and the movie is dedicated to the 150-year-old Pothanur post office. Those days, a post office was one of the most happening places in a town. People used to visit the place for various things. But over the years, post offices lost their significance. Not many people visit the post office these days. But for me, the post office always remains a place that’s bustling with activities. The story is based on a real-life incident narrated by my father while he was working as a postal assistant. I wrote the script from a different perspective. The entire story happens in two days — I directed the film and also play the lead role,” says Praveen.
The director-actor tells us that Pothanur Thabal Nilayam is the first Indian film that has shown a post office in a detailed manner. The film is set in the 90s and the team has erected a real post office set in Pothanur. “The overall look of post offices has changed over the years. But I wanted to have the old look of the post office in the film. I also had to do some research to develop the characters from the 90s,” he says. Praveen has earlier worked as a technical director for Kochadaiiyaan and a few Hollywood movies. Anjali Rao plays the female lead in the film. Music is done by Tenma and cinematography by Sundar Sukumaran.