Interview with Idlebrain

Tell us about Oy!
Oy is the shortest titled movie in my career. It comes with the tagline ‘His first love called him Oy’. I fell for that tagline. It is an impact making title. I had done a lover boy character with family backdrop in films like NVNV, Bommarillu and KIKK. But Oy is a love story of epic proportion with no family background attached to it. It is my first pure love story. There will be tremendous energy levels in the movie.

Oy! Audio turned out to be a chartbuster. What is your role as album producer for this movie?
All my films had successful audio so far. I acted as an album producer for Oy and my involvement in music is there right from the first composition to the last mixing. Yuvan Shankar Raja gave mostly dubbing musical hits in Telugu except for AMAV. The sales of Oy album are on rage and they released the 4th bunch into the market recently. Ilaya Raja is like a God for me. I couldn’t work with him and now I have the satisfaction of working with his son Yuvan Shankar Raja. He also sang a song in this album. I feel that visuals and music provide life to any love story. The music an movie of Oy! will complement each other.

Tell us about the title song you sung for this movie?
It was Chakri who asked me to sing a song in Chukkallo Chandrudu. Then Bhaskar asked me to sing Appudo song. I am not a great singer, but I can put energy into my singing. I can transport the energy of character into my voice. The song in sung in Oy! is the simplest song in that album.

Which is your favourite among Oy songs?
Povadde Prema (Yuvan Shankar Raja sung it) and Waiting for You (KK sung it). These two songs are the emotional songs. And emotional songs hold me in love stories. Vanamali came up with terrific lyrics for these two songs. We just finished shooting ‘waiting for you’ and it’s beautiful. This song took me back to ‘O Priya Priya’ song from Geetanjali movie.

The tagline of this movie is ‘His first love called him Oy!’. Who is your first love?
Cinema is my first love (giggles)

Tell us about the director Anand Ranga?
I have done six films so far in Telugu and five of them are directed by the first timers. Anand Ranga is the quietest director I worked with so far. I trust Anand Ranga the most after Prabhudeva among the directors I worked with. Anand has lots of clarity. He could able to translate whatever he penned in script onto the screen. Oy! is one person’s journey depicted through Anand Ranga’s voice. Oy is a poetic love story.

Why are you hiding Shamili in publicity and promotion of the movie?
The director and the producer want to hide Shamili from the public so that it arises curiosity. By doing so, audiences will be able to travel with heroine character better when they watch the movie. I feel that heroine’s characterization is very important for any movie to click. Shamili is a natural performer.

From whatever little glimpse we had about Shamili in the posters, she looks pretty ordinary with no glamour angle attached to it. Does the heroine character demands an ordinary looking girl?
Shamili plays a realistic character in this movie and she is the perfect cast for the role.

What are the highlights of Oy?
Oy is an epic love story mounted on grand scale with nice visuals, sound and characterizations. The comedy in this movie is going to be better than that of NVNV. We shot the movie in lots of grand locations (Kolkota, Bihar, Waranasi, Indian Oceon, Bangalakhatam, Melbourne etc). Oy is going to be very sound in technical side. We shot the movie in air (helicopter), earth and water (under sea). We erected a beautiful set in Rishi Konda (Vizag). Visuals have special scheme to it.

Tell us about the cinematographer Vijay?
He worked for Bommarillu and KIKK in the past and I respect him as a cinematographer. He can improve our performances with his work. A cinematographer sees the work even before director. The visuals of this movie are grand.

What is the reason for doing Telugu films in quick succession though you are in demand in Tamil and Hindi as well?
I consider myself as a full-time Telugu hero. I want to do as many films as I can in Telugu for the next two years. I am proud that a film like KIKK ran successfully in the time of recession. My career is on high despite of global meltdown.

,b>You are looking good in Oy. How did you do the styling?
Lots of effort goes into styling me and my character. And I played the role of a young lover boy in all my films so far. In Oy, I appeared like a man, not like a boy. Hence I look more macho in this movie. Oy is my best styled movie. Director Anand Ranga presented me well. He came up with character sketches. I was given character sketches for Oy and RDB among the films I have done. Anand Ranga gave me lot of detailing in the character so that I could understand it well and enliven the character on the screen.

Do you want to continue with the image of a lover boy?
Yes. I stick to my strengths. But I make sure that I do characters that challenge me as an actor. Shahrukh Khan has been doing the roles of lover boy for the past 25 years and he is still looking fresh today. I shouldn’t get bored as an actor. While other actors are doing mass movies, I am doing mass production of love stories (giggles).

Tell us about producer Danayya?
Danayya has been asking for my dates for the past 3 years. I told him that I would set the project up and approach him with the director and story. Like Nallamalupu Bujji, Danayya too is looking to produce a sensible love story after doing several mass blockbusters. Danayya is also a quiet guy like the director Anand Ranga.

You are a rage among girls. Who is the target audience for Oy?
It is a misconception that only girls like to watch my movies. Guys too watch my movies because they have to drive girls (giggles). Jokes apart, Oy! will be an ideal date movie.