Jojo films his filmy wedding
Jojo Devassy from Nellayi had gone the extra mile filming his own wedding with Lintu in Oru Cinema Undaakiya Kalyanam.
The short film begins with the usual post wedding photo shoot scene. The husband and wife run towards the camera in slow motion holding hands, accompanied by a romantic track. Despite many takes, the shot does not bring the desired result. Tired, husband puts forward a suggestion — he asks his wife if she is willing to film their own story, how their marriage happened, instead of the regular ‘kissing and hugging’ post wedding shoot. She agrees and the film Oru Cinema Undaakiya Kalyanam takes a new course from there. It goes on to show how Jojo Devassy, a native of Nellayi, Thrissur, who works as sales engineer in Qatar finds it difficult to get married just because he doesn’t have a family visa, his tiresome routine of pennukanals during the 10-day leave and eventually how his old friend whom he meets at a cinema theatre changes his life for the better.
All the characters in the film are persons from real life and the film went viral on social media for its unique approach. Actors and filmmakers have shared it on their wall. The couple – Jojo and Lintu — is surprised by the feedback.
“A few years ago, I tried my luck in cinema as a scriptwriter. I met a few directors but unfortunately, no one was interested. I am happy that this short film turned out to be a hit,” says Jojo, who wrote the screenplay and dialogues of Oru Cinema Undaakiya Kalyanam and directed it.
He believes that it maybe the ‘expat angle’ that made the film so popular. “When it comes to marriage, almost all expats face this problem. Nobody would be willing to marry a person without a family visa. Some people say that right on the face. Many times I have felt that rejecting a person solely because of that reason as cruel. One aim of this film was to project this,” says Jojo. “Those who live abroad come home once a year, that too for a few days. Everything has to be set within that short span. In such situations, like I mentioned in the movie, they may have to meet four or five girls a day. But, then this happens,” he adds.
Luckily, Jojo’s situation was not so horrible. “I had only 10 days of leave. My family had arranged a match but then the girl didn’t like me. So, we had to search for other proposals. That time, I went for a movie.”
There I met my friend and obviously marriage was one topic of discussion. Later, he told me about his wife’s sister. Next day, I went and met her. We liked each other. The marriage was fixed within two days. It was a cinema that brought us together,” smiles Jojo.
For Lintu too it was quite unexpected. She was doing a course in Ernakulam when this episode took place. “I used to travel by train. One day I missed the train. When I reached home, my sister’s husband was narrating the ‘theatre sequence’ to her. They sought my opinion. I said I would get married once I got a job. But, I liked him when I saw his photo. My family enquired about him, liked their family and marriage was on,” says Lintu. She wasn’t concerned about family visa. “I liked his genuineness,” she adds.
Their marriage was on January 22, this year. It was Jojo’s friend Sandheep Pushkar who shot the film. Regarding the decision to film their story as a wedding highlights video, Jojo says, “First of all, I wanted to project this issue faced by expats through my story. Wife’s parents had some concerns. But, I convinced them. Lintu was quite supportive throughout the shooting. And, I wanted the video to be different,” says Jojo, a lorry lover, who included such a scene at the concluding part of the film, where the couple goes on a trip in a lorry.
“It was my love for lorries that encouraged me to take up mechanical engineering,” he laughs. “I still love watching movies like Spadikam and Vazhunnor that have lorry sequences. I was a little afraid whether we would be trolled for that. Luckily, that turned out to be the punch scene in the film,” concludes Jojo, who wants to be a filmmaker.