Anukokunda Oka Roju

Anukokunda Oka Roju (“Unexpectedly, One Day”) is a 2005 Telugu mystery thriller written and directed by Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, about a young singer who loses all memory of a single day and finds that someone now wants her dead. Charmy, Jagapathi Babu and Shashank star, with music by M. M. Keeravani. Released on 30 June 2005, it was critically acclaimed, won two Nandi Awards and was later remade in Hindi as Sunday (2008).

What the story is about

Sahasra is a chorus singer trying to break into playback singing. One night her party-loving friend Swetha talks her into going to a rave. Days later, men start trying to kill her, and Sahasra slowly realises that a whole day is missing from her memory. A cab driver, Rajesh, insists she owes him money; a suspended police inspector, Suresh Reddy, whose marriage proposal her family once turned down, starts helping her; and strange recordings of her own voice turn up on her audio recorder. The film explores drug-induced memory loss, manipulation and the danger of cults and godmen, and its answers are best discovered on screen.

Cast and crew

• Charmy as Sahasra
• Jagapathi Babu as Inspector Suresh Reddy
• Shashank as Rajesh, a taxi driver
• Pavan Malhotra as Surya Swamy
• Harsha Vardhan as Shankar Rao, a tuition teacher
• Narsing Yadav as Machavarapu Abbulu
• Ravi Prakash as Mahesh and Kamal Kamaraju as Kamal

Writer and director: Chandra Sekhar Yeleti. Producers: Gunnam Gangaraju and Venkat Dega (Just Yellow). Music: M. M. Keeravani. Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari, in his debut. Runtime: 145 minutes.

Making the film

Yeleti’s account in Idlebrain’s post-mortem of the film explains how it came together. After Aithe (2003), Pratyusha Creations dropped the project as too risky, and Gangaraju agreed to produce it without changing the script. The idea grew from noticing how alcohol causes erratic behaviour and memory loss; Yeleti first planned a story about drug mafias but, after encounters with godmen, turned it towards cults. Genelia liked the story but had no dates, and Charmy was cast after Yeleti saw her on television and liked her Telugu. Jagapathi Babu asked for the role of the suspended cop, which Yeleti reworked to avoid police clichés, giving him a juice pack instead of cigarettes or alcohol.

Filming began on 20 November 2004 on real locations, mostly in public places around Hyderabad, and ran 90 working days against a plan of 70. Night shoots were harder than expected, with clear roads only between 2 am and 3 am.

Music

Keeravani wrote five songs and a chorus track, all from the heroine’s point of view and all sung by women, including Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan. Smita won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer (Telugu) for “Evaraina Choosuntara”, written by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry.

Reviews, box office and awards

Jeevi of Idlebrain gave it three and a half out of five, praising the original story, realistic approach and performances while noting slow narration and a weak climax. Years later, Film Companion called it an underappreciated gem.

The acclaim did not translate into profit. Gangaraju told Idlebrain that the film cost ₹2.9 crore and lost ₹90 lakh. It won the Nandi Awards for Second Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay Writer, and Charmy won the Santosham Award for Best Actress.

Where to watch Anukokunda Oka Roju

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Anukokunda Oka Roju on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

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