Beautiful! Oye is a beautiful piece of cinema. If Erich Segal were to make his Love Story in Telugu, he would have made it like Oye. The trick with Oye is the diverse range of emotions that its characters dish out. They make us laugh, cry, and fall in love as they take us through their “short and sweet” journey

What is it about : “Oye” is how Sandhya (Shamili) calls Uday (Siddharth) when she first meets him in a pub and asks him for tissue papers. Sandhya is a typical middle class girl that you find in small towns. She is purposeful, pragmatic, and has a disciplinarian view of life. Uday is an exact opposite. He is rich, spoilt and lives for the minute. As fate would have it Uday meets Sandhya and he falls for her totally and whole heartedly. Director Anand Ranga could have continued it and made it a happy love story. But right in the beginning he confesses that he was, in making this movie, heavily inspired by Erich Segal’s “Love Story.” So do not go to this movie expecting Uday and Sandhya to ride into a cinematic and happy ending. Instead go to this movie expecting the unexpected. The first 40 minutes rock! Totally!! Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is a blast. This phase of the movie is about Uday wooing Sandhya. The second 40 minutes is the phase where Sandhya reciprocates and accepts his love. The pace slows down a bit but only when compared to the 1st phase. Then 10 minutes and through to the interval the director introduces an interesting twist into the story. Not to worry. No fears about tears. Instead the director displays a nice cinematic touch and takes us along with Uday and Sandhya through their trip from Vizag to Kasi. I am not going to reveal the story here. But suffice to say that this 30 minutes of the movie is really cool. The editing, photography and the 4th song of the movie are in this section. And they jell like a dream. And as the lead pair return home to Vizag, the climax begins. It ends the way the hero and heroine always preferred it to end – short and sweet.

What is Good: Siddarth, and Shamili are terrific. Siddharth’s acting is effortless and the guy has charm to spare. Shamili lives the role of Sandhya. Yuvan Shankar Raja gives glimpses of the genius of his father Ilaya Raja. His father had Gitanjali. The son has Oye. Director Anand Ranga has crafted cinematic magic. His casting of Shamili is pure genius. The girl is your typical girl next door. The women in the audience will especially identify with her. The songs and dances are the best that one has seen on Telugu screens for a very long time. The climax scenes are strong in sentiment and very moving.

What is bad: Nothing much really, except that the heavy doses of sentiment needed much more than stale comedy dished out by Sunil. Ali provides relief but it is way too inadequate. Late in the first half, and midway in the second half the movie slows down. The movie is a trifle lengthy but that semes to be the trend these days!

Me Thinks: Watch it with someone you love. If it is your wife, it’s all the better! You get the drift right!!

Tailpiece: Where are the Telugu actors in the movie. Siddharth and Shamili are from Kollywood and Mollywood respectively. Napoleon also is from Kollywood. Music director is a Tamilian. What is happening in Tollywood? Where are our actors and technicians?