Happy Days (2007 film)
| Happy Days | |
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| Directed by | Sekhar Kammula |
| Produced by | Sekhar Kammula |
| Written by | Sekhar Kammula |
| Starring | Varun Sandesh Tamanna Bhatia Nikhil Siddharth Gayatri Rao Raahul |
| Music by | Mickey J Meyer |
| Cinematography | Vijay C Kumar |
| Distributed by | Amigo Creations |
| Release date(s) | 28 September 2007 (United States), 2 October 2007 (India) |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget |  2 crores |
Happy Days (Telugu: హ్యాపీ డేస్, Hyāpī Ḍēs ?) is a 2007 film directed by Sekhar Kammula. The film was very popular in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The target audience for this movie was primarily the engineering college students in these states. The Kannada remake was called Jolly days and in Tamil as Inidhu Inidhu by noted Indian actor Prakash Raj. The film won 6 Filmfare Awards South,[1] and 3 Nandi Awards.[2]
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[edit] Synopsis
Happy Days is the quintessential college story that explores the lives of eight friends through the four years of their engineering course. Each one joins with their own set of idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. What starts off as a journey of individuals, slowly becomes a collective one as they bond. They bond as they go through bullying seniors, tyrant professors, intense examinations, celebrations, Love, Betrayal, Sacrifice and every possible experience that an individual goes through in a college. And finally they realize their potential.
The film is a true representation of the wonderful & formative years in college. It depicts the stories of concerned parents and inspiring professors. It captures the raw energy in college going students. Full of dance, romance, music and masti… It has all the class rooms tiffs, mandatory fights, hot looking professors, love at first sights, crushes, break ups, fist kisses, hostel humor, bikes, friendships and betrayals, birthday parties, prom nights, achievements, failures, exams, summers, picnics and parties, careers and true loves…. The film brings back the nostalgia of college days which are the most memorable days of everyone’s lives.
[edit] Cast
- Varun Sandesh as Chandu
- Tamanna Bhatia as Madhu
- Nikhil Siddharth as Rajesh
- Raahul as Arjun (Tyson)
- Vamsee Krishna as Shankar
- Gayaturi Rao as Aparna (Appu)
- Monali Chowdhary as Sangeetha
- Sonia Deepti as Shravanthi (Shravs)
- Kamalinee Mukherjee as Shreya (Guest Appearance)
- Krishnudu
- Ranadheer Reddy as Naveen
- Aadarsh as Sanjay
- Adithya as Praveen
- Srikanth
- Nachiketh
- Satya
- Dileep
- Chaitanya Chitrada
- Kamal
- Praveen
- Suresh
- Krishna
- Sowjanya
- Priyanka
- Hima Bindu
- Deepthi
- Shuruthi as Prasanti
[edit] Production
[edit] Casting
Sekhar Kammula held a talent search at Big FM and idlebrain.com and managed to select 7 of the 8 lead actors. He had to cast Tamanna as a suitable actress was not found.[3] The main lead of the film was selected using the internet without any direct audition. Varun Sandesh did not audition for his role. He sent his photograph by e-mail in response to idlebrain.com advertisement and subsequently sent a video clip of himself enacting certain scenes along with a song via Google Video.
[edit] Location
Most of the movie was shot at Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT), with select scenes shot outdoors. Sekhar is an alumnus of CBIT and he found it to be a suitable location. He had to hold a special screening of Anand to the chairman of CBIT and board members to convince them for an on-site shoot. Apparently, after watching Anand, the board gave permission to shoot the film.[4]
[edit] Cost Cutting Measures
Sekhar Kammula cut costs of producing the film though various methods. By casting newcomers, he cut expenses to a reasonable level. As most of the shooting took place in the college, there was no need to construct sets. By partnering with Pantaloon Group, he saved another Rs 10 lakhs in the costumes budget.[5]
[edit] Release
Happy Days was released on 28 September 2007 in the US and 2 October 2007 in India. In addition, it was dubbed into Malayalam. This film was super hit in Kerala too. This film is one of the highest grossing films in 2007 in Kerala.
[edit] Response
Though the film featured mostly new-comers, it became a commercial hit throughout India. It collected 18 crores (180 million) in 50 days.[6] The film generally received positive reviews.[7][8][9][10]
[edit] Awards
- Filmfare Awards South - 2008[11]
- Best film - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Director - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Supporting Actress - Sonia Deepti
- Best Music Director - Mickey J. Meyer
- Best Lyricist - Vanamali (Areyrey Areyrey)
- Best Male Playback Singer - Karthik (Areyrey Areyrey)
- Nandi Awards - 2008[12]
- Best film (Silver) - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Music Director - Mickey J. Meyer
- Best Male Playback Singer - Karthik (Oh My Friend)
- CineMAA Awards - 2008
- Best Film - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Director - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Story - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Screenplay - Sekhar Kammula
- Best Music - Mickey J. Meyer
- Best Lyricist - Vanamali (Areyrey Areyrey)
- Best Lyricist - Veturi
- Best Male Singer - Karthik (Areyrey Areyrey)
[edit] Music
The film has seven songs composed by Mickey J. Meyer.
- Areyrey Areyrey - Karthik
- Jill Jill Jinga - Krishna Chaitanya, Kranti, Aditya Siddharth & Sashi Kiran
- Happy Days Rock - Naresh Iyer & Mickey J. Meyer
- Ya Kundendu - Pranavi
- O My Friend - Karthik
- Ye Cheekati - Ranjith & Sunitha Sarathy
- Happy Days - Harshika & Mickey J. Meyer
[edit] Trivia
The film was dubbed into Malayalam as Happy Days and re-made in Kannada as Jolly Days and released in 2008. Both versions proved to be successful. The Tamil remake, Inidhu Inidhu,[13] was directed by noted cinematographer K V Guhan under actor Prakash Raj's Duet Movies banner, which flopped at the box-office due to its lack of richness and fresh feel. The first schedule was completed in Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore (also called VIT University) and featured newcomers as protagonists. Mickey J. Meyer was retained as the music director and the project was his first venture in Tamil.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.bharatstudent.com/cafebharat/view_news-Malayalam-News_and_Gossips-4,27721.php
- ^ http://www.idlebrain.com/news/2000march20/nandiawards2007.html
- ^ Idle Brain Interview with Sekhar Kammula
- ^ "Audio launch - Happy Days". http://idlebrain.com/news/functions/audio-happydays.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ "Announcement - Happy Days". http://www.idlebrain.com/news/functions/announcement-happydays.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ http://www.greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=4794&scat=33
- ^ "Movie Review - Happy Days". Archived from the original on 2007-10-20. http://web.archive.org/web/20071020032112/http://www.filmchamber.com/fcre.aspx?m=HappyDays. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ "Telugu Movie review - Happy Days". http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-happydays.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ "A Trip Down Memory Lane". http://www.cinegoer.com/reviews/happydays.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ "‘Happy Days’ Review: A Nostalgic Retreat". http://www.greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=2972&cat=1&scat=12. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ http://www.bharatstudent.com/cafebharat/view_news-Malayalam-News_and_Gossips-4,27721.php
- ^ http://www.idlebrain.com/news/2000march20/nandiawards2007.html
- ^ http://www.cinesouth.com/masala/hotnews/new/10122008-5.shtml
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bommarillu |
Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) 2007 |
Succeeded by Gamyam |
