Choosi Choodangaane 2020

Siddu Shiva Kandukuri follows a life that unfolds across childhood and adulthood, shaped by a close-knit family and a series of formative relationships. From a young age, his academics are steered by his mother, and he ends up entering engineering college against his wishes. In that campus world, he falls for Aishwarya Malavika Satheesan, who returns his affection, but their romance runs into pressure from the outside world. Aishwarya, who is close with other male students, irks Sidhu, and as college nears its end, the couple drifts apart when she reveals her father wouldn’t approve the marriage. A dejected Sidhu tears apart his exam papers and quits engineering, setting a new path for his life.

Now stepping into a different career, Sidhu becomes a wedding photographer, a job that allows him to capture moments but leaves him hungry to become a fashion photographer someday. While at a wedding, he spots Shruti Varsha Bollamma, and the spark between them sets the stage for a new chapter. He meets Shruti again in a pub, where his friend Yogi Venkatesh Kakumanu introduces her, and Shruti’s life is driven by music—she’s a drummer in a band and is testing the waters to become a music director for films. Sidhu admires her carefree attitude, and a genuine connection grows, drawing him toward her.

A pivotal flashback reveals Shruti’s first sight of Sidhu on their college’s first day; she instantly likes him, a moment she shares with Aishwarya, who ridicules it. Shruti, posing as a senior at a coffee shop, gets Yogi to pay for things, and their friendship blossoms. Yogi stays close to Sidhu and hints that a fan in the CS department might be Shruti, though Sidhu mistakes Aishwarya for that admirer. As time passes, Shruti grows heartbroken when she sees Aishwarya with Sidhu, leading to a confrontation where Shruti accuses Aishwarya of cheating and ends contact with her. At a college event, Shruti discovers Aishwarya embracing another guy in a dark room and pleads with her not to hurt Sidhu. It is later revealed that this moment is part of what drives Aishwarya to leave Sidhu, potentially shielding him from a larger revelation, and Shruti soon departs for Texas with Yogi to pursue MS studies.

Back in the present, Sidhu wrestles with the sense that Shruti kept her friendship with Aishwarya a secret, a blow compounded by the arrival of Shruti’s boyfriend Virat from the US. Shruti’s relationship is not something Sidhu had fully believed in, and when he gathers the courage to confess his feelings, Shruti accepts Virat’s marriage proposal instead. A night of heartbreak follows, and Sidhu leaves a party in a drunken haze, unsure of what his future holds.

With renewed determination, Sidhu lands a chance to pursue fashion photography, a long-held dream, but disappointment follows as he struggles to make a mark and even argues with a model, ending the session in frustration. He returns to Shruti’s home to lay blame on her for derailing his ambitions, and when she later comes to his room to apologize for keeping the truths hidden, she finds him with another woman in a pub, leading to a one-night stand that shifts the emotional balance between them. Shruti retreats to Yogi’s room to vent, admitting that she did have genuine feelings for Sidhu, even though the path forward seems unclear.

Sidhu gradually returns to wedding photography and finds his motivation shifting away from fashion photography, focusing instead on the moments that matter most to him. Then comes an invitation to Shruti’s wedding, which unleashes a flood of memories. He rushes to the event to express his feelings, only to realize that Shruti is not the bride. He ultimately locates her at the wedding, offers a sincere apology, and the two reconcile. In a revelation that reframes the entire journey, Shruti confesses that she has loved him for eight years, a feeling that began the moment she first saw him. Sidhu is astonished to learn that Shruti’s family had once opposed the alliance, a decision Shruti’s father made to protect her from public embarrassment, ultimately sparing her a painful break with Virat’s family and sealing Sidhu and Shruti’s enduring connection. If their past was strewn with obstacles, their future holds the promise of staying true to the bond that has endured across years and choices.