Ashta Chamma

Mohana Krishna Indraganti's 2008 Telugu film is adapted from Oscar Wilde's play. Lavanya adores an actor and is set on marrying a man who carries the same name. When her boyfriend's real name turns out to be something else, the lies pile up. The film keeps the play's structure of mistaken identity and moves it into a middle-class Indian household; it proceeds through dialogue. Nani and Swathi Reddy lead, in early work for both. It was made on a small budget and became an unexpected success. Who it's for: those who like verbal comedy and adaptations of classics. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a showy production; the film is small in scale and plainly shot.