My heart's gone somewhere

Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu (transl. My Heart’s Gone Somewhere) is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language musical romance co-written, co-produced and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Nani and Samantha, with music by Ilaiyaraaja and cinematography by M. S. Prabhu. It was shot at the same time as the Tamil Neethaane En Ponvasantham, in which Jiiva took Nani’s role. The film won five Nandi Awards and did well at the box office.

Story

Varun joins an engineering college and, at a cultural programme, spots his childhood sweetheart Nithya performing in a dance show. The film then goes back to their friendship as third-standard classmates, their falling-out over a misunderstanding, and their meeting again in tenth standard. It follows the two of them through the stages of growing up and falling in love.

Cast

• Nani as Varun
• Samantha as Nithya, with Chinmayi providing her speaking voice

Production

In January 2011, producer Bellamkonda Suresh announced a Tamil-Telugu bilingual with Menon, Ram and Samantha. Ram left the project in September 2011 and was replaced by Nani, who had worked on Menon’s production Veppam. Filming began on 29 August 2011 with a photo shoot alongside the Tamil version. Menon later decided to shoot in three languages, keeping Samantha in all of them. The film was going to be called Nithya, after her character. It was finally titled after a song from the 1996 film Ninne Pelladutha.

Music

Ilaiyaraaja was revealed as composer in January 2012. The eight-track album reuses the songs of the Tamil version. It was launched at a live concert at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on 2 September 2012, with a Hungarian orchestra that had also worked on the score. Reviewers praised the album’s soothing melodies and its echoes of Ilaiyaraaja’s work from the 1980s and 1990s.

Reception

Reviews were mixed. Critics appreciated Menon’s writing, Ilaiyaraaja’s music and especially the performances of Nani and Samantha, but several found the narration slow. Rediff called it a believable love story, and The Hindu likened it to a breeze best watched with someone you love. Although the audio rights were sold to Sun TV, the film itself was not shown on television until Star Maa acquired it and premiered it on 7 January 2018.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.