'Wedding Gift is about the misuse of dowry harassment laws'

Vikram Prabhu, a businessman, is finally realising his passion for filmmaking with his directorial debut, Wedding Gift. “It’s a thrilling court drama that reflects problems between a couple and its impact on society. The film highlights the misuse of the law by a woman against her husband,” says Vikram.

Vikram has previously assisted director Rajendra Singh Babu in Love (2004). “I worked for 6 to 7 months but later took up another profession as a medical representative. After travelling to a few countries, I finally settled in Banglore in 2018,” he shares.

Vikram’s Wedding Gift has Sonu Gowda in a negative role and is paired alongside opposite Nishan Nanaiah. The thriller features Prema as a lawyer and Pavitra Lokesh and Achyuth Kumar in pivotal roles.

Wedding Gift is Balachandra Prabhu’s first film as music director, while Uday Leela has taken care of the cinematography.

Vikram was inspired by real-life cases to develop the film’s story. “However, none of the cases are directly related to the story told in Wedding Gift. One of my friends committed suicide due to a false case filed by his wife. It led me to research about more such issues. I consulted lawyers and learnt about the Indian Penal Code Sec 498A -- a law that allows women to file cases against husbands and in-laws in case of domestic violence, which is a non-bailable offense. Such a law was passed in 1983 when women faced dowry harassment cases. However, it is misused by some women to extract money or blackmail their husbands. Wedding Gift is about one such story.”

Vikram was also inspired by the Bollywood film, Section 375, starring Akshay Khanna and Richa Chadda. “There are many films about women facing violence and harassment, but not much related to husbands facing harassment. I thought I should make it. The story is about a woman trying to trap a man in a false case and how the husband tries to take revenge legally.”