Okkadu ( ) is a 2003 Tollywood blockbuster which was directed by Gunasekhar. It stars Mahesh Babu, Bhoomika Chawla, and Prakash Raj. Music was composed by Mani Sharma and editing was done by A. Sreekar Prasad. M.S. Raju produced this film. This movie was later remade into the Tamil movie Gilli. This film was released on January 15, 2003.

Plot

Ajay Varma(Mahesh Babu), is a young Kabbadi player who goes to Kurnool to take part in a match. There, he saves Swapna Reddy (Bhoomika Chawla), from Obul Reddy (Prakash Raj), who is in love with Swapna and wants to marry her against her wishes. Ajay brings Swapna to his house in Hyderabad and decides to send her abroad to save her from Obul Reddy. This is complicated by the fact that Swapna falls in love with Ajay and that Ajay's father is the police inspector in charge of finding Swapna. The movie has Charminar as its integral part. Whether Ajay and Swapna unite is the crux of the story.

Cast

• Mahesh Babu ... Ajay Varma ("Varma" comes only in the credits at the end)
• Bhoomika Chawla ... Swapna Reddy (Obul Reddy's mother says they belong to the same caste; and we can see her full name scribbled on the passport)
• Mukesh Rishi ... Assistant Commissioner of Police (Father of Ajay)
• Prakash Raj ... Obul Reddy
• Geetha ... Mother of Ajay

Crew

• Director: Gunasekhar
• Screenplay: Gunasekhar
• Story: Gunasekhar
• Dialogue: Paruchuri Brothers
• Producer: M.S. Raju
• Music: Mani Sharma
• Cinematography: Sekhar V. Joseph
• Choreography: Raju Sundaram & Lawrence
• Art Direction: Ashok
• Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
• Stunts : Vijayan

Music

The music for the film was composed by Mani Sharma. The lyrics were written by Sirivennela.

• Hare rama (sung by Shankar Mahadevan)
• Nuvvemmaya Chesavokaani (Shreya Ghosal)
• Sahasam Swasaga (Mallikharjun)
• Cheppave Chirugaali (Sujitha and Udit Narayan)
• Hai re hai (Karthik and K. S. Chitra)
• Atharintiki (Hariharan, Shreya Ghosal and the Priya sisters)

Production

M.S. Raju,who is known to produce films with technicians/actors when they were down with failures, decided to make a film with director Gunasekhar,whose previous venture Mrugaraju bombed at the box office.Mahesh Babu was selected as the hero after his performance in Murari which inspired M.S. Raju.

Release

• The film released on 15 January 2003 in 165 screens.
• The audio was released on 19 December 2002.

Box-office performance

• The film collected a share of Rs.60 million in its opening week in Andhra Pradesh. It collected a distributors' share of Rs.280 million.
• The film had a successful 50-day run in 144 centres.
• The film had a successful 100-day run in 130 centres.
• The film had a 175 day run in 4 centres.

Awards

Filmfare Awards

• Best Film - M.S. Raju
• Best Director - Gunasekhar
• Best Actor - Mahesh Babu
• Best Music Director - Mani Sharma

Santosham Film Awards

• Best Film - M.S. Raju
• Best Villain - Prakash Raj
• Best Art Direction - Ashok

Trivia

• The movie was remade into Tamil, under the name Ghilli (2004), starring Vijay and Trisha Krishnan, which went on to become one of the best films of Vijay.
• The film was made into Kannada as Aajay (2006) starring Puneet Rajkumar and Prakash Raj, however it didn't reach the success level of Ghilli or Okkadu.
• The first 15 minutes of the movie, is an adaptation of the hollywood classic West Side Story.

References

1. Telugu Cinema Etc - Idlebrain.com
2. Telugu Cinema Etc - Idlebrain.com
3. Telugu Cinema Etc - Idlebrain.com
4. Okkadu Opening Week Collections
5. Telugu mid-year report
6. OKKADU's 50 days Centers
7. Okkadu 100 days centers
8. Maheshbabu's 175-Day Centres List

External links

• idlebrain.com, movie review
• idlebrain.com, music review
• Lyrics Of Okkadu At MusicMazaa.com