A love story called Oye

Oye is a rather odd name for a film but that is the title of Siddharth Narayan's latest Telugu film. And it's got an unusual tagline too which goes like this: "His first love called him Oye".

One normally calls somebody oye in the South mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Oye is directed by debutant Anand Ranga and is slated to hit theatres on July 3.

Given Siddharth's penchant to work with new directors, it's not surprising that he chose another new one to helm his sixth Telugu film.

Anand Ranga worked with Bhaskar on Bommarillu which starred Siddharth as the hero. Anand Ranga scripts the film too.

Siddharth is known for his meticulous association right from the script stage of the film. Siddharth also has an uncanny ability to do slightly hatke yet commercial films. He is also choosy about the work he does.

Shamili, Shalini Ajith Kumar's sister has given some good performances as a child artiste in her first stint in tinseldom with Mani Ratnam's Anjali. She later starred in Rajeev Menon's Kandukondein Kandukondein (Priyaralu Pilichindi in Telugu). Now, after a brief hiatus she's all set to re-enter films as the heroine with Oye.

After Trisha (Nuvvastanante Nenoddantana), Genelia (Bommarillu) Ileana (Aata), Tamannaah (Koncham Ishtam, Koncham Kashtam- KIKK) Siddharth will romance Shamili on screen in Oye.

It is interesting to note that no photographs or stills of Shamili from Oye are being released by the production unit. This is perhaps to induce curiosity in the viewers.

Oye is produced by DVV Danayya. It is said to be a love story which has been shot in many places like Kolkata, Varanasi and Australia (one of the last few films to be shot there before the racial problems broke out).

Vijay Chakravarthy is the DOP who had worked in Bommarillu and KIKK and therefore technically the film is bound to be slick. Marthand K Venkatesh edits the film. So, one can expect a good product.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is already rocking the charts. Siddharth has sung a song too like he did in his other films. The old practice of actors singing seems to be coming back in vogue. Quite a few actors are lending their voices to the songs, the recent example being Vikram in Kandaswamy/Mallana and Varun Sandesh in Evaraina Epudaina.

The others in the cast include Tanikella Bharani, Sunil, Krishnudu (who is said to be seen in some different avatars), Ali and Pradeep Rawat. Napoleon (now a minister in the Cabinet) is also returning to Telugu films after quite some time.

Siddharth's last film KIKK ran for more than 100 hundred days. But all eyes are on Shamili this time. So let's wait and see if this Friday proves to be magical for the two!