Happy Days (2007 film)

Infobox_Film | name = Happy Days


imdb_id = 1214961
writer = Sekhar Kammula
starring = Varun Sandesh
Tamanna Bhatia
Nikhil Siddharth
Gayatri Rao
Raahul
director = Sekhar Kammula
producer = Sekhar Kammula
distributor = Amigo Creations
released = September 28, 2007 (US),
October 2, 2007 (India)
runtime =
cinematography = Vijay C Kumar
country = India
language = Telugu
music = Mickey J Meyer
awards =
budget = Rs. 30 million

"Happy Days " ( _te. హాపీ దెస్) (Dubbed into Malayalam with the same title) is a 2007 film directed by Sekhar Kammula starring several new faces such as Tamanna,Varun Sandesh, Raahul, Nikhil, Vamsee Krishna, Gayatri Rao, Monali Chowdhary and Sonia. The music of this film is by a relative newcomer, Mickey J Meyer, who also composed music for the movie Notebook. Editing is by Marthand K. Venkatesh with Vijay C Kumar doing the cinematography. The film had huge box-office collections in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Synopsis

Just as with Anand and Godavari Kammula tells a fresh, simple tale in Happy Days. In keeping with his past work, this movie is strong, contemporary, and a family film. Happy Days follows the college life of four boys and four girls as they experience love, friendship, responsibility, etc. It was one of the biggest hits of the year

Cast

* Varun Sandesh ... Chandu (Chandrasekhar)
* Tamanna Bhatia ... Madhu
* Nikhil Siddharth... Rajesh
* Raahul ... Tyson (Arjun)
* Vamsee Krishna... Shankar
* Gayatri Rao ... Appu (Aparna)
* Monali Chowdhary ... Sangeetha
* Sonia ... Shravs (Shravanthi)Nikhil Siddharth will be soon returning with his solo film in 2008.

Production

Casting

Sekhar Kammula ran a talent search at Big FM and idlebrain.com and managed to select 7 out of 8 lead actors. They had to cast Tamanna as he did not get another suitable actress through the talent search. Actors were chosen to suit the characters but not based on their dancing or dialogue delivery skills. [http://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/sekharkammula2.html Idle Brain Interview with Sekhar Kammula] ] For the first time in the film history Fact|date=December 2007, the main lead of a movie was selected via internet without any direct audition. Varun Sandesh, who played the Chandu character, did not meet anyone of the Happy Days production team. He sent his photographs in email responding to idlebrain.com ad and then sent the video clipping of the scenes he was asked to act along with a song through Google Video and was confirmed for the lead role.

Location

Parts of the movie were shot in Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology (MGIT) college of Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT). The management of CBIT has long stopped giving permission for shooting films on site. Sekhar Kammula is an alumnus of CBIT and he found it to be a suitable location for 'Happy Days'. He had to hold a special screening of Anand to BN Reddy (the chairman of CBIT) and board members to convince them for giving the permission for an on-site shoot. Apparently, after watching Anand, the board has passed a resolution to give permission to shoot the film. [cite news | url=http://idlebrain.com/news/functions/audio-happydays.html| title=Audio launch - Happy Days| accessdate=2008-03-24]

Cost Cutting Measures

Sekhar Kammula cut costs of producing the film though various methods. By casting all new comers, he cut the remunerations to a reasonable level. Most of the shooting takes place in the college for 50 days and by choosing a permanent set up like CBIT he saved over Rs 15 lakhs. By partnering with "Pantaloon Group", he saved another Rs 10 lakhs in the costumes budget. [cite news | url=http://www.idlebrain.com/news/functions/announcement-happydays.html| title=Announcement - Happy Days| accessdate=2008-03-24] He put the entire cast and crew of Happy Days in Treasure Island, which is just a few minutes away drive from CBIT.

Release

"Happy Days" was released on September 28, 2007 in the US and October 2, 2007 in India. It was released with 11 prints overseas on September 28, 2007. In addition, it was dubbed in Malayalam and released in 24 centres across Kerala.

Response

Box office

The film was a blockbuster in both India and United States.

Reviews

The film got very good reviews. [cite news | url=http://www.filmchamber.com/fcre.aspx?m=HappyDays| title=Movie Review - Happy Days | accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news | url=http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-happydays.html| title=Telugu Movie review - Happy Days | accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news | url=http://www.cinegoer.com/reviews/happydays.htm| title=A Trip Down Memory Lane | accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news | url=http://www.greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=2972&cat=1&scat=12| title=‘Happy Days’ Review: A Nostalgic Retreat| accessdate=2008-03-24]

Awards

; CineMAA Awards 2008
* Best Film
* Best Director - Sekhar Kammula
* Best Story - Sekhar Kammula
* Best Screenplay - Sekhar Kammula
* Best Music - Mickey J. Meyer
* Best Lyricist - Vanamali ("Arey Arey")
* Best Lyricist - Veturi (Happy Days)
* Best Male Singer - Karthik ("Arey Arey")

Music

The film has seven songs composed by Mickey J Meyer. The songs have been well received by the audiencesFact|date=February 2008.

* "Arey Rey Arey Rey" - 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

References

External links

*imdb title|id=1214961|title=Happy Days