''Welcome Obama'' is a 2013 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of India's most versatile and innovative filmmakers. He has directed around sixty films across ...

, who also composed the soundtrack. A remake of the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

film ''

Mala Aai Vhhaychy! ''Mala Aai Vhhaychay!'' ( ''I Want to Be a Mother!'') is a 2011 Indian Marathi-language film produced and directed by Samruoddhi Porey. The story deals with rising surrogacy instances in India, where women are used as surrogates by foreigners. ...

'' (2011), the film stars Urmila Kanetkar, Rachel and Esteban. It focuses on a surrogate mother who bears a foreigner's child. The film was released on 20 September 2013.

Plot

Lucy, an American woman, comes to India looking for a surrogate mother to bear her a child. She makes a deal with Yashodha, an impoverished single mother. Yashodha has an accidental fall when pregnant and the doctors conjecture that there is a risk of the baby being born deformed, leading to Lucy revoking the contract and returning to the United States. In time, Yashodha delivers a healthy and active boy named Krishna, and everyone calls him "Obama" due to his

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

skin. Years later, Lucy gets to know about the boy and comes to India to take him with her. But Yashodha, having developed a strong bond with Krishna, refuses to send him back. How Lucy responds to this forms the rest of the story.

Cast

* Urmila Kanetkar as Yashodha * Rachel as Lucy * Esteban as Krishna * Sanjeev as Yashodha's brother *

Balabhadrapatruni Ramani Balabhadrapatruni Ramani is an Indian litterateur, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, dialogue writer, and film critic, known for her works in Telugu theatre, Telugu cinema, Television, and Radio. She has served as a Jury Member for ''Southern R ...

Bhuvana Chandra Bhuvana Chandra is an Indian lyricist, renowned for his work in the Telugu cinema. He served in the Indian Air Force for 18 years before turning into a lyricist. He penned lyrics for more than 2000 songs. He also wrote more than 100 stories, a no ...

Anantha Sriram Chegondi Anantha Sriram is an Indian lyricist, poet and actor who works in Telugu cinema. Sriram has written lyrics for over 1000 Telugu film songs in his career. He won a Nandi Award, two Filmfare Award and two SIIMA Awards for his work as a ly ...

Production

''Welcome Obama'', directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and produced by Bharati Krishna under Sandalwood Media, is a remake of the

film ''

'' (2011). Urmila Kanetkar, the lead actress of that film, was chosen to reprise her role. British actress Rachel was chosen to portray an American woman, and French child actor Esteban was cast as the surrogate child. The dialogues were written by Rohini. Cinematography was handled by S. S. Darshan. ''Welcome Obama'' was shot on

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was o ...

film, as opposed to being shot digitally. Shooting was completed in 33 days.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao who also worked as lyricist.

Release and reception

''Welcome Obama'' was released on 20 September 2013. Sandeep Atreysa of ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

'' wrote, "Certainly, this is not a runof-the-mill story Telugu audiences would watch often. But what went wrong? Slow-paced narration in the first half and a bad comedy track in second half." Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' wrote, "There was a time when Singeetam Srinivasa Rao gave us some of the most entertaining films that broke new grounds both in storytelling and technical departments ..Now, at the age of 82, when the filmmaker with unbeatable fervour comes up with a story that discusses surrogacy, it is natural to expect a social family drama that tugs at your heart strings while making observations about surrogacy. But as the drama unfolds, you are left looking for the missing magic of a once-brilliant filmmaker."

References

External links

* {{Singeetam Srinivasa Rao 2010s Indian films 2010s Telugu-language films 2013 drama films 2013 films Films about surrogacy Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Indian drama films Indian pregnancy films Telugu remakes of Marathi films