2006 Indian Telugu-language film by Bhaskar
Bommarillu (transl. Toy House) (pronunciationⓘ) is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy family drama film directed and co-written by Bhaskar in his directorial debut, and produced by Dil Raju. The film stars Siddharth, Genelia, Prakash Raj and Jayasudha. The film primarily revolves around the relationship between a father and son, in which the father's excessive concern for his son, and interference in his life, leads to the latter harbouring bitterness towards his overbearing father. The cinematography was handled by Vijay C Chakravarthy and editing done by Marthand K. Venkatesh. The music for the film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, whose soundtrack of the film received positive reviews from critics.[2]
The film opened to Indian audiences on 9 August 2006. On its way to winning state honours and rave reviews, the film went on to win several Filmfare Awards among other prominent awards and was one of the highest grossing Telugu films of that year. Following the film's box office success, it was remade in Tamil as Santosh Subramaniam (2008), in Bengali as Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (2008), in Odia as Dream Girl (2009), and in Hindi as It's My Life (2020).
Plot
Aravind is a father who strives to provide his children more than what they ask for, often overriding their choices. Aravind's youngest son, Siddharth aka Siddhu, doesn't want to be controlled as such. He is determined that two crucial aspects of his life — his career and his life partner — should be chosen by him alone. Aravind expects Siddhu to join his construction company; however, Siddhu desires to start his own company and be independent, and hence keeps lying and making excuses. The following week, Aravind gets a reluctant Siddhu engaged to his friend's daughter Subbalakshmi. Subbalakshmi, like Siddhu, is a child whose life is micromanaged by her father. Much to Siddhu's dismay, she doesn't seem to mind it.
When contemplating his options at a temple, Siddhu accidentally meets Haasini and is attracted to her energetic nature, craziness and cheerfulness. The couple begins to meet regularly. As the days go by, Siddhu grows to admire the ever-friendly Hasini as someone who does what she wants to, and finds joy in doing the smallest things with her. He realizes that he has fallen in love with her.
Alongside this, Siddhu applies for a bank loan to start his own construction company. He proposes to Haasini while also confessing that he is engaged to Subbalakshmi against his wishes. On learning this, Haasini, though dejected for a while, comes back to him a few days later, and advises Siddhu to break off his engagement, also declaring that she loves him too. The ecstatic Siddhu yells out his love for Hasini as she leaves in her college bus, and is seen by a furious Aravind.
On being admonished by Aravind back home, Siddhu convinces Aravind to let Haasini stay with their family for a week. He also convinces Haasini to stay at his house after lying to her father, Kanaka Rao, that she is going on a college field trip. After receiving a lukewarm welcome, Haasini finds it difficult to get along with the other members of Aravind's household but stays for Siddhu's sake. Bit-by-bit, many of the family members begin to like Haasini, much to Aravind's dismay. The more time passes, the more Haasini lets slip to the family about Siddhu's behavior outside of his rigid household, including the fact that he sought out a loan. A frustrated Siddhu begins lashing out at Haasini and the two begin to grow apart.
One day, the family attends a wedding, where, despite Siddhu warning Haasini to behave herself, she acts unreservedly and makes a fool of herself in front of Aravind. Coincidentally, a drunk Kanaka Rao finds his way to the wedding and nearly spots Haasini, worrying Siddhu. Siddhu admonishes Haasini for her antics, and insults Kanaka Rao, prompting her to angrily remind him of his own habits of getting drunk and cursing at his father. Siddhu's family (excluding Aravind) hears this, shocking his family and devastating Siddhu.
When the week is finished, Haasini tells Siddhu and Aravind that she has decided to leave. She explains that Siddhu has been scolding her for doing the same things that made him fall in love with her, and that she's afraid that if she marries Siddhu, she will have to act one way in the house and another way outside, just like Siddhu does. After getting back to home, she promises a disappointed and furious Kanaka Rao that she will listen to him more obediently from now on.
When Aravind confronts Siddhu about his aloofness and inability to forget Haasini, Siddhu's mother, Lakshmi, confronts Aravind about the hand he has played in Siddhu's anguish. In the process, Siddhu opens his heart up to his dad for the first time, explaining that Aravind's overbearingness has left Siddhu feeling stifled and frustrated his whole life. Aravind sees Siddhu's pain and expresses apology. He gives Siddhu his blessings to take control of his own life and, as repentance, promises to help Siddhu win back Haasani.
Siddhu meets with Subbulakshmi and her parents to call off the marriage. Meanwhile, Aravind tries to convince Kanaka Rao to accept Siddhu and their family and forgive them for the pain they caused Haasini during her week's stay. While Kanaka Rao accepts their apology, he doesn't approve of Siddhu. Aravind suggests that Kanaka Rao let Siddhu stay with them for a week, just as Haasini did. After a tumultuous week's stay, Kanaka Rao is convinced, letting the couple unite.
Production
Development
Prior to Bommarillu, Bhaskar assisted Dil Raju in Telugu films such as Arya (2004) and Bhadra (2005). On the sets of the film Arya, Raju offered Bhaskar a film to direct. On the sets of Bhadra, Bhaskar narrated the story to Raju and the saga began.[3] Thus, Bommarillu became the first directorial venture for Bhaskar.[3] In an interview, he said that the story for the film began taking shape in as early as 1997 when he wrote about a father and a son's relationship. However, when the plans of making the film arose, an element of love between the protagonists was added. In the interview, he said that the script, to an extent, is autobiographical.[3] He cites personal examples of some scenes from the film such as the choice of clothes for Siddhu by Aravind, the head-bump between the lead actors and Lakshmi singing in the kitchen.[4]
In an interview, Vijay C Chakravarthy, the cinematographer for the film, said that Dil Raju offered him the position in November 2005. For the film, Vijay said that he made use of Arriflex 435 camera and Hawk lenses.[4] In another interview, Bhaskar said working with Abburi Ravi, his co-writer, was unique. They used to converse in a closed room with a voice recorder, allowing the dialogues in the script to be natural. He also heaped praise on Marthand K. Venkatesh, the film's editor. After filming, the length of the film reel came to 16,200 feet (4,900 m) which amounted to a runtime of 3 hours and 15 minutes. The presence of Marthand brought this down to 15,100 feet (4,600 m). This meant a reduction in the runtime by 25 minutes.[4]
Casting
The choice of Siddharth was because of the sheer relevance to the character in real life. However, they finalized the choice of the actor only after the script was ready.[3][5] The choice of Genelia was based on her natural vivacity in real life. This and her eyes, according to Bhaskar, made her an obvious choice for her character.[3] More so, she liked the one line story that Raju told and also a few scenes that he narrated to her. She immediately liked the character and consented for the role.[6] The fact that her co-actor, Siddharth and she acted earlier together in Boys (2003), made them more comfortable to work with. The camaraderie that the lead actors shared during the filming, added to their good performances.[7][8] The choice of Prakash Raj was easy as he befitted the character he portrayed while, Jayasudha was persuaded to play the role of the lead actor's mother.[3] Savitha Reddy rendered the voice for Genelia's character in the film.[citation needed]
Filming
The shooting of the film took about three and a half months.[4] The palatial house where the entire family stayed in the film is part of Ramanaidu Studios at Nanakramguda, Hyderabad. Several modifications were done by the art director, Prakash.[5] A couple of the songs were shot in a montage, another couple in Frankfurt am Main and other places in Germany and one song each in this house set and at a temple in Kakinada.[5]
Soundtrack
For the film's music and soundtrack, Raju renewed his previous association (Arya and Bhadra) with Devi Sri Prasad.[5] Siddharth sung one of the tracks from this film.[9] The film has seven songs composed by Devi Sri Prasad with the lyrics primarily penned by Chandrabose, Ravi Kumar Bhaskarabhatla, Kulasekhar and Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.[10] The audio of the film released nationwide on 21 June 2006.[11] A repository of Indian songs has recommended the feel-good soundtracks to the audiences.[12]
Release
Bommarillu was released worldwide with 72 prints. Owing to the success of the film, the number of reels grew to about hundred.[citation needed] It collected a distributors share of ₹5 crore in its opening week in India.[citation needed] Released in six major metros in the United States, the film collected $73,200 (then approximately ₹0.3 crore) within the first four days of screening.[citation needed] A September 2006 survey done in the United States by a popular entertainment portal revealed that the film was watched by an Indian expatriate population of 65,000, which generated a revenue of ₹3 crore at that time.[citation needed] A cumulative gross revenue for the film was reported to be as ₹25 crore including ₹3.5 crore from overseas, the largest for any Telugu film at that time. This film had given Siddarth stardom in Telugu cinema.[1]
Reception
Critical reception
The film received huge critical acclaim right for the story, performances (especially Siddharth, Genelia & Prakash Raj), direction, soundtrack & score, direction & screenplay, climax, humour & emotional sequences. One entertainment portal suggests the film to the entire family. It goes on to applaud Siddharth, Genelia and Prakash Raj, the three prime actors from the film for their performances.[13] Similar reviews were voiced out by other such portals, many of which pointing out no real flaws from the film.[14][15]
Hourdose reviewed it by stating "‘Bommarillu’ is a pure example of a director's faith in his script and his screenplay. All the wonderful performances of the lead cast and some nice talent from the crew made the film a grand success. This film is surely one of the most well-written and innovative films that Tollywood has produced in recent years."[16]
Controversies
The film had its own share of controversies. A news report showcased the omnipresent piracy in the Telugu film industry by quoting the cheap prices at which the film was being sold.[17] The film's lead actor, Siddharth even went on to request the audiences to buy the original audio CD.[citation needed] The film's producer, Dil Raju, ensured a special code on each distributed print to track piracy with a warning for copyright violation which would incur a fine or a jail term.[18]
In April 2007, a case of copyright infringement was filed on the film's producer and director that prompted a court to stall the screening of the film. The allegation pointed out that the film was made based on a compilation of short stories that was released in 1997.[19]
Remakes
Jayasudha's efforts to remake this film in Hindi with Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan were unsuccessful. A Hindi remake of the film titled It's My Life was started by Boney Kapoor in 2007, and scenes were shot with Harman Baweja and Genelia.[20] The film remained unreleased for over a decade,[21] before having a direct-to-television premiere on 29 November 2020.[22] The film was remade in Tamil, Bengali and Odia languages under the titles Santosh Subramaniam,[23] Bhalobasa Bhalobasa[24] and Dream Girl,[25] respectively, in 2008 and 2009. Although it was remade in Bengali, the film was also dubbed in that language as Ki Likhi Tomay.
