Oh My Friend

Plot

The movie begins with Chandu (Siddharth Narayan) and Siri (Shruti Haasan) as childhood friends. Chandu and Siri call each other "Faltoos" and "Killer", respectively, affectionately. Their friendship remains intact even as they grow up. Chandu who was sent to Mumbai to do MBA, instead learns music and returns home which leads to agony of his father. However, Siri convinces Chandu's father that it is her responsibility to take care of Chandu's career. They go for an audition there they get a fight with a band and he is sent out of the audition. Prior to that, Siri accepts the love proposal by Uday (Navdeep), who lives in US after consulting Chandu. Later, Chandu and Siri accidentally meet their common friend in college, Ritu Sharma (Hansika Motwani) and Chandu falls in love with her at first sight. Chandu starts spending time with Ritu to impress her, but Siri feels that she is being avoided. Siri decides to leave for a dancing School at Chennai. Meanwhile, Ritu accepts Chandu's love proposal. When Siri is about to leave, Chandu apologises her that he had not noticed that she was being avoided. At the same time, Uday comes back from US to surprise her. Hence, she decides not to leave.

Chandu decides to attend Airtel music competition in Kochi as a lead guitarist in a band. Siri, Uday and Ritu accompany him to Kochi. They all stay in a hotel in Kochi, where Clarity Kanna Rao (Ali) is the servant. Chandu gets his practice through the band where he fought already but later on they become friends. Chandu wins the competition with guitar gifted by Siri. However, the events in kochi displaying deep friendship between Chandu and Siri attracts jealousy of both Ritu and Uday. Finally Uday calls for break up by asking to decide between him and Chandu. Chandu's father defends Uday's opinion and asks Chandu and Siri to realise their love. But, Chandu insists that their friendship can't be turned into love and tells Uday to marry Siri, promising him that he will not be in touch, see her and talk to her for ever. The movie ends with Siri giving birth to Uday's child, while Chandu and Ritu, now a married couple, come to see them at the hospital.

At the hospital, Uday realizes his mistake of separating them and asks Chandu and Siri to become friends again. They both reunite as Ritu enters and feels happy for them. The four friends leave with Siri and Uday's baby in Chandu's car, now best friends forever.

Cast

Production

Siddharth plays the lead role, while actress Shruti Haasan replaced Amrita Rao as the heroine. Earlier Ye Maya Chesave fame Samantha Ruth Prabhu was planned as the female lead; but was later replaced by Amrita Rao, since a Hindi dubbed version is probable; and then subsequently finalized to Shruthi Haasan. Hansika Motwani has been roped in to play the second female lead. The film also had conducted photo shoots with actresses Amala Paul and Nithya Menen, with the latter suggesting that Siddharth wanted Shruti Haasan in the role.

For the first time in the Telugu film industry Oh My Friend movie has online piracy protection called ORNB's MovieGuard.

The film score and soundtrack are composed by Kerala State Film Award winner Rahul Raj, who makes his debut in Telugu cinema after an impressive 10 film stint in Malayalam cinema.

Several photo sessions held on 17 January 2011. The shooting commenced on 21 February 2011. The first audio teaser was released on 6 August.

Audio Release

The audio was released on 15 October 2011. The audio release function, which was held at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad was telecast live on MAA TV. The movie was released on 11 November 2011.

Music

All the music is composed, arranged and programmed by Rahul Raj, except one song Sri Chaitanya which was composed by Anil R. The lyrics are written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sasthry and Krishna Chaitanya. The audio received overwhelming responses, and the song Maa Daddy Pockets became a rage among the youth immediately on release.

Telugu film portal kothimeer.com quoted that " Certain albums come with a 'guaranteed success' tag and no doubt 'Oh My Friend' is one of them. All the songs are extremely easy on ears with smooth flowing affect and focuses more on melody, lyrics and vocals. Malayalam music director Rahul Raj rightly acquires the tag of hit machine in the music industry with this album. Songs are the treat for all those in love as well as for them who believe in true friendship. Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry and Krishna Chaitanya came together to frame the best lyrics that compliments the tunes composed by Rahul Raj."

Another famous Telugu film portal 123telugu.com concluded by giving the verdict "The album of ‘Oh my Friend’ feels fresh and youthful. There are some terrific tracks in the album. Malayalam music director Rahul Raj makes an impressive Telugu debut with this movie."

The audio went on to mark record sales of 3 lakh CDs within 9 days of release. The Times of India called it Rahul rage in Tollywood. The cast and crew hosted the 'Triple Platinum Disc' celebrations on 5 November 2011; six days prior to the film's release.

Release

The Telugu version of the film was released on 11 November 2011 (11-11-11). The Tamil version released on 18 May 2012 in 200 theatres across Tamil Nadu.

Critical response

Oh My Friend received mixed reviews to positive from critics and this film is well received by the audience . Oneindia.com was positive about the movie, predicting that the film would do well at multiplexes. Radhika Rajamani from rediff.com said it is a feel-good entertainer that is "honest, refreshing, and true to life".

Critics reacted negatively as well. idlebrain.com said that Producer Dil Raju has made a brave attempt to make a film without any commercial padding. B V S Prakash of Deccan Chronicle rated the movie 2 out of 5, calling it "just another run-of-the-mill film". Cinegoer.com's Y Sunita Chowdary called it a pretty average film, but also said that you could watch it for the star cast. Deepa Garimella of fullhyd.com praised the film's interplay of characters, and the visuals and the music, but found the ending "an ending a serious violation of audience expectations", besides calling the plot predictable. She rated it 5 out of 10. Oneindia.com quoted the narration to be slow and subject to be cliched while praising the wonderful music and lead cast's performance as saving grace.

Galatta.com gave a positive review for the Tamil version, saying "After a long time it is good to see a subtle romantic film, without any over-the-top dialogues and violence, in Kollywood. Siddharth, Shruti Haasan and Navdeep have done justice to their role; however Hansika doesn't have much to perform. Music by Rahul Raj needs a special mention as it uplifts the entire film."