Baby teaser: Sai Rajesh’s soulful romantic triangle trends big on Youtube

Sai Rajesh, who addressed himself as Steven Shankar upon his arrival in Telugu cinema, paved the way for a new era of parody films in the industry with attempts like Hrudaya Kaleyam and Kobbari Matta. He also wrote, and produced the National award-winning film Colour Photo later. He’s now wielding the megaphone again for the romantic triangle Baby, whose teaser was launched on Monday.

Anand Deverakonda, Viraj Ashwin play the male leads in the film which introduces a rare Telugu-speaking heroine Vaishnavi Chaitanya as the leading lady. SKN is bankrolling the film under Mass Movie Makers. The team left no stone unturned to promote Baby’s teaser extensively and it looks like their efforts have ultimately paid off.

Clocking nearly 2.5 million views, the teaser stands at the fourth position in the trending section on Youtube. The popularity of Baby asserts one aspect quite clearly - romance as a genre is well and truly back in Telugu cinema. From Radhe Shyam to Sehari to Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam to Sita Ramam and Ori Devuda, there are a handful of examples to suggest that the trend is here to stay.

In Baby, there’s an element of nostalgia in the story and the makers caught the eyeballs of viewers when they paid a tribute to Ilaiyaraja through graffiti. Sai Rajesh, the director is a self-proclaimed fanatic of the music legend and the thoughtful honour to the composer via his film has come as a pleasant surprise. Vijai Bulganin’s background score has also struck a chord with crowds.

Though there were a few who didn’t take a liking to the forced dusky complexion of the female lead Vaishnavi Chaitanya, the director promised to respond to them through the film. The main intent behind any promotional material is to initiate conversations and Baby’s teaser has successfully done that. The film is expected to release later this year.