At present Nelson is one of the most sought-after directors in Kollywood. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of ‘Beast’ trailer starring Vijay and directed by Nelson.
When Nelson Dhilipkumar made a brief cameo in the promotional video of ‘Kolamaavu Kokilaa’ single ‘Kalyana Vayasu’, not many would have thought he would be directing Vijay in his third movie and superstar Rajinikanth in his fourth movie.
Born in Vellore in 1984, Nelson did his visual communication at Chennai New College.
He joined Star Vijay as assistant scriptwriter and later went on to direct the serial Azhagi and several hit shows for the TV channel.
Some of his notable works include Olli Belly, Boys vs Girls, Jodi No 1, Airtel Super Singer, and Bigg Boss.
During his stint at the Bigg Boss show, he became friends with STR, who was one of the judges at the show.
The duo then later teamed up for a film titled ‘Vettai Mannan’. The teaser of the movie was also released in 2010. But the project got shelved due to unknown reasons.
Nelson continued his work at Vijay TV and eventually became friends with Sivakarthikeyan. Sivakarthikeyan later recommended Arunraja Kamaraj as an assistant director to Nelson.
Sivakarthikeyan and Arunraja expressed their respect for Nelson by naming Sivakarthikeyan’s character in ‘Kanaa’ as Nelson.
It may be noted that ‘Kanaa’ was Sivakarthikeyan’s debut production venture and Arunraja Kamaraj’s debut directorial film.
Later Nelson also became friends with Anirudh and Vignesh Shivan. Nelson had said that it was Anirudh who recommended his name to Lyca Productions which led to the making of ‘Kolamaavu Kokila’ starring Nayanthara in the lead role.
Nelson admitted that Vignesh Shivan helped in getting the appointment from Nayanthara to narrate his story. Nelson said that Nayanthara immediately agreed after listening to the story.
The movie went on to become a huge hit. Following this Nelson announced that Sivakarthikeyan will produce and play the lead role in his next directorial venture ‘Doctor’.
Anirudh had once again teamed up for this project and the songs created quite a buzz around the movie.
The film became a blockbuster and was a crowd puller to theater post-pandemic.
Then came the surprise announcement that Nelson will be directing Vijay for a movie produced by Sun Pictures.
The first look and two singles from the movie have already sent the fans into a frenzy. The director has announced that the trailer of the movie will be released on 2 April. The film will be hitting the screens on 13 April. Expectations are sky high for this film as fans are eagerly waiting to see how Nelson has handled Vijay.
Even before the release of ‘Beast’, Sun Pictures surprised everyone by announcing that Rajinikanth’s next will be directed by Nelson Dhilipkumar. The movie will have music by Anirudh Ravichander.
***