Bommarillu

Bommarillu (meaning “Toy House”) is a 2006 Telugu romantic comedy and family drama directed and co-written by Bhaskar in his debut, and produced by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations. Siddharth, Genelia and Prakash Raj lead the cast, with Jayasudha and Kota Srinivasa Rao. Released on 9 August 2006, it won rave reviews and several Filmfare Awards, was one of the year’s highest-grossing Telugu films, and made Siddharth a star in Telugu cinema. Its story of a loving but suffocating father struck such a chord that it was remade in Tamil, Bengali, Odia and Hindi.

What the story is about

Siddhu lives in a comfortable home run entirely by his father, Aravind, who chooses everything from his clothes to his career, and has even arranged his engagement to a friend’s daughter. Siddhu wants to start his own business and keeps making excuses rather than confront him. Then he meets Hasini, a cheerful, free-spirited college student who finds joy in small things, and falls for her. When his father finds out, Siddhu proposes a test: Hasini will live with the family for one week so that Aravind can judge her for himself. That week, and what it reveals about everyone in the house, is the heart of the film.

Cast

• Siddharth as Siddhu; he also sang one of the film’s songs
• Genelia as Hasini
• Prakash Raj as Aravind, Siddhu’s father
• Jayasudha as Lakshmi, Siddhu’s mother
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Kanaka Rao, Hasini’s father
• Sunil, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Tanikella Bharani and Brahmanandam in supporting roles

How it was made

Bhaskar had worked with Dil Raju on Arya and Bhadra; Raju offered him a film on the sets of Arya, and Bhaskar narrated this story on the sets of Bhadra. Bhaskar told Rediff that he began writing about a father and son as early as 1997 and that the script is partly autobiographical; the love story was added later. He and co-writer Abburi Ravi developed the dialogue by talking it through with a voice recorder running. Siddharth and Genelia had acted together in Boys (2003). Vijay C. Chakravarthy shot the film, and editor Marthand K. Venkatesh cut a first assembly of 3 hours and 15 minutes down by 25 minutes. The family home is a set at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad, and songs were filmed in Germany and Kakinada.

Music

Devi Sri Prasad composed the seven songs, with lyrics mainly by Chandrabose, Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar, Kulasekhar and Sirivennela Sitaramasastri. The soundtrack was well received by critics.

Release and box office

Bommarillu opened on 9 August 2006. The Hindu, reviewing the year, counted it among the highest-grossing Telugu films of 2006. Wikipedia’s cited sources do not give a single reliable gross figure, so we do not quote one. The film was re-released in theatres on 21 September 2024.

What critics said

Reviews were glowing. Jeevi of Idlebrain.com rated it 4.5 out of 5. On Nowrunning, B. Anuradha gave it 5 out of 5, writing that Bhaskar “shows a conspicuous flair for comedy”, and another reviewer, Kishore, called it “a gentle gust of cool and fresh wind amidst the stench and stale air”. The film went on to win state honours and several Filmfare Awards.

Legacy and remakes

Bommarillu was remade in Tamil as Santosh Subramaniam (2008), in Bengali as Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (2008) and in Odia as Dream Girl (2009). A Hindi remake, It’s My Life, was shot in 2007 with Harman Baweja and Genelia but stayed unreleased until a television premiere on 29 November 2020. In April 2007 a copyright case alleging the story came from a 1997 collection of short stories briefly led a court to stall screenings.

Where to watch Bommarillu

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Bommarillu on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Bommarillu and the interviews and reviews it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.