Okariki Okaru

Okariki Okaru (“Each for the Other”) is a 2003 Telugu romantic drama and the directing debut of cinematographer Rasool Ellore. Tamil actor Srikanth, billed here as Sriram, stars opposite Aarti Chabria, both in their first Telugu films, and M. M. Keeravani composed the music. ARS Prasad produced it for Anandi Art Creations. It was released on 9 October 2003.

What the story is about

Kamesh, a fresh postgraduate, is on a pilgrimage to Kasi at his grandmother’s request when he spots Swapna, a non-resident Indian visiting the country with her grandfather, at a railway station and falls for her. When they introduce themselves, both give false names, Rahul and Subba Lakshmi. Swapna and her grandfather leave suddenly for their relatives’ house before she can say goodbye, though she slips a note into his wallet. A year later Kamesh, still in love, takes a software engineering job so that he can get to the United States, and finds himself working under Deepak, Swapna’s cousin, who wants to marry her. The film follows whether the two can find their way back to each other.

Cast and crew

• Sriram as Kamesh (and, in a portrait, his late grandfather)
• Aarti Chabria as Swapna
• Manav Vij as Deepak
• Tanikella Bharani as Kamesh’s father and Hema as his mother
• Radha Kumari as Malleswari, Kamesh’s grandmother
• M. Balayya as Rao and Devan as Swapna’s father
• Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as a visa officer, with Ravi Prakash, Ahuti Prasad and Gautam Raju

Director: Rasool Ellore. Producer: ARS Prasad. Music: M. M. Keeravani. Cinematography: Sunil Reddy, in his debut.

Making the film

Ellore narrated the script to Sriram on the sets of the Tamil film April Maadhathil, according to The Times of India. The actor took the name Sriram to avoid confusion with the established Telugu star Srikanth, and appeared clean-shaven for the first time. The love-declaration scene was shot in a dense Kerala forest full of snakes and leeches, which drove some of the crew away, and the climax was filmed in the rain.

Music

Keeravani composed the songs after Ellore described the visuals he had in mind. The Hindu’s audio review said: “Keeravani has that artistic touch in composing music, really! Good attempt.” S. S. Rajamouli, NTR Jr. and Allu Arjun were guests at the audio launch on 1 September 2003, and Keeravani later reused “Nadiradinna” as “Dheere Jalna” in Paheli (2005).

Reviews and box office

Jeevi of Idlebrain praised the music, screenplay, dialogue, direction and cinematography, and Preetam Akkineni of Full Hyderabad called it “clean good fun”. The film was a box-office success, as The Times of India reported, though Sriram did not take another Telugu film until Police Police (2010). Ellore won the Nandi Award for Best Debut Director, and the Tamil dub, Unnai Paartha Naal Mudhal, added a comedy track by Ramesh Khanna.

Where to watch Okariki Okaru

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

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Okariki Okaru and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.