What’s it about?
Produced by T. Ramesh for Balaji Real Media and released by Reliance Entertainment, the film is a remake of the Hindi hit Dabangg starring Salman Khan in the lead. STR plays the lead in the Tamil version with Richa Gangopadhyay, Revathy, “Jithan” Ramesh, Santhanam, Nasser, Vijayakumar and Mayilsamy providing support. Directed by Dharani, Osthe has music by Thaman S. Gopinath has handled the camera.
The audio of Osthe was released recently. Vijaya T. Rajendar, STR's father, spoke about the song he sang in the film. STR regaled those present at the event, singing and dancing to the number he has penned for the film. The audience were also treated to four songs by singers who originally rendered them. Actor Vijay released the audio and lyricist Vaali received it . Director K. S. Ravi Kumar and actors Premji Amaren, Nasser, Vaibhav and Jai also graced the occasion. Comedian Jagan and Olivia were the emcees.
Music highlights
The album comprises five foot-tapping songs. ‘Osthe Maamey', written by Vaali and sung by Baba Sehgal, Ranjith, Rahul Nambiar and Naveen Madhav is great. Thaman S (the music director) and Rita have done a good job of the melodious ‘Unnale Unnale', written by Yuga Bharathi. Another fine number by the same lyricist is ‘Neduvaali', where Rahul Nambiar excels Mahathi. Written and sung by STR, ‘Pondatti' follows the same pattern of songs the actor has sung in his earlier films. ‘Kalasala Kalasala', written by Vaali and rendered by L. R. Easwari, Vijaya T. Rajendar and Sola Sai, is a number which will surely appeal to the masses.
What they say…..
Director Dharani: We finished the whole film in one schedule, shooting for 95 days without a break. Everyone seems to be curious about the title. ‘Osthe' means ‘pinnacle'; yes, that's what the title stands for. I always feel we cannot remake a box office hit; but only adapt it in the best possible way.
Producer T. Ramesh: One day, STR called me up and asked me to buy the rights of Dabangg . Without even thinking for a moment, I just went ahead and bought the rights, paying a fancy price. Then he suggested Dharani as the director, which made me happier. Dharani took up the film as a challenge and finished it as soon as possible. Like his earlier films Dhil, Dhool and Ghilli , I am sure Osthe will also turn out to be a hit for our company.
Music director Thaman S.: Composing a song is not difficult for me. But it was challenging for me to come up with a tune for the item song that should be better than my earlier compositions. With the help of director Dharani and STR, I was able to do it to their satisfaction. We composed the songs in the comfort of lyricist Vaali's house. I must give due credit to L. R. Easwari (What a voice! It hasn't changed one bit over the years) who came and sang the song, which is sure to be the hit of the year.
Hero STR: When we decided to do the film, I called up Dharani and asked him not to include the scene where I was supposed to expose my chest. When the shooting was in full swing, somebody reported in a paper that I was going to the gym regularly and one could expect to see my six packs shortly. This made headlines and the electronic media followed suit and started focussing on my gym activities. Till then I was not going to the gym at all. When the news started spreading like wildfire, I was forced to visit the gym and work my way towards getting six-pack abs in the course of one month. I must thank the press for making me work so hard for the film. All my previous films had music by Yuvan Shankar Raja. When I told him about Osthe , he instantly suggested Thaman's name for it. In the Telugu film industry, Thaman is in the top slot. I've even woken him up at midnight to tell him how I wanted the music to be. He has done it to our satisfaction. We all have done our best and hope people will appreciate our effort.
