Happy Days (2007 film)

Happy Days is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language musical coming of age film written, produced and directed by Sekhar Kammula. The film stars Varun Sandesh and Tamannaah in the lead roles, while Nikhil Siddharth, Sonia Deepti, and Rahul Haridas feature in pivotal roles. The target audience for this movie was primarily the youth, teenagers and engineering college students in Andhra Pradesh.

Happy Days
Directed bySekhar Kammula
Produced bySekhar Kammula
Written bySekhar Kammula
StarringVarun Sandesh
Tamannaah
Nikhil Siddharth
Sonia Deepti
Rahul Haridas
Vamsee Chaganti
Music byMickey J Meyer
CinematographyVijay C Kumar
Edited byMarthand K. Venkatesh
Production
company
Amigos Creations
Distributed byAmigos Creations
Release date
  • 28 September 2007 (2007-09-28) (United States)
,
  • October 2007 (2007-10) (India)
Running time
165 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget20 million INR
Box office240 million INR(Gross)

The film was dubbed in Malayalam and remade in Kannada as Jolly days and in Tamil as Inidhu Inidhu by actor Prakash Raj. The film won six Filmfare Awards South,[1] and three Nandi Awards.[2] In 2014, there were speculations that a Hindi remake of Happy Days would be directed by Sekhar himself, and would be co-produced by Salman Khan.[3][4][5] However, there were no further updates.

Plot

Happy Days tells us a story that explores the lives of eight friends through the four years of their engineering course. Each one of them joins Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology with their own set of idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, beliefs and ideals. What starts off as a journey of individuals, slowly becomes a collective one over time. They bond over as they go through bullying seniors, stringent professors, intense examinations, over the top celebrations, love, betrayal, sacrifice and every other possible emotion that an individual can experience in a college. The movie portrays the mindset of a typical engineering student which helped youth to connect with the characters involved.

The film is a hyperbolic representation of a student's life. It is not meant to be taken seriously.[6]

Cast
  • Varun Sandesh as Chandrashekar "Chandu"
  • Tamannaah as Madhu
  • Nikhil Siddharth as Rajesh
  • Sonia Deepti as Shravanthi "Shravs"
  • Vamsee Chaganti as Shankar
  • Gayatri Rao as Aparna "Appu"
  • Rahul Haridas as Arjun "Tyson"
  • Monali Chowdhary as Sangeetha
  • Gururaj Manepalli as College Principal
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee as Shreya Madam (Guest Appearance)
  • Krishnudu as Bandodu
  • Randhir Gattla as Naveen
  • Aadarsh Balakrishna as Sanjay
  • Vamshi as Paidithalli
  • Adithya as Praveen
  • Shruti as Prashanthi
  • Srikanth
  • Nachiketh
  • Satya
  • Dileep
  • Chaitanya Chitrada
  • Kamal
  • Praveen
  • Suresh
  • Krishna
  • Sowjanya
  • Priyanka
  • Hima Bindu
  • Deepthi

Production

Casting

Sekhar Kammula held a talent search at Big FM and idlebrain.com and managed to select seven of the eight lead actors. He had to cast Tamannaah as a suitable actress was not found.[7] 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. Damidi Kamalakar Reddy, founding Secretary and Treasurer of Chaitanya Engineering College, acted as a Professor/Lecturer in a brief cameo role.

Location

Most of the movie was shot at Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology MGIT. In fact, the opening scene between Appu and Rajesh was shot in MGIT with select scenes shot outdoors. Sekhar is an alumnus of CBIT, and he found it to be a suitable location. He had to arrange a special screening of Anand to the chairman of CBIT and its board members to convince them for an on-site shoot. Apparently, after watching Anand, the board granted their permission to shoot the film.[8]

Cost cutting measures

Sekhar Kammula cut costs of producing the film through 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 1 million in the costumes budget.[9]

Release

Happy Days was released on 28 September 2007 in the United States and 2 October 2007 in India. In addition, it was dubbed into Malayalam.

Response

Though the film featured mostly newcomers, it became a commercial hit throughout India. It collected ₹ 2 crores (20million) in 50 days.[10] The film received extremely positive reviews for its fresh story, cast, screenplay, and songs.[11][12][13][14]

Awards
Filmfare Awards South – 2008[1]
Nandi Awards – 2008[2]
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)

Soundtrack

The Music was composed by Mickey J. Meyer and Released by Big Music.[15] The Audio Launch took place at Annapurna Studios on 24 August 2007, 100 students selected from various colleges in Hyderabad attended it to make it more colorful. The guests for the evening included BN Reddy (CBIT), Kamalakar Reddy (CBIT), Dil Raju, Sekhar Kammula, Ravi Naidu (BIG Music), Mahesh Kumar (Reliance business head), Mickey J Meyer, Swapna, C Vijaya Kumar, Ashok and the star cast.BN Reddy launched the audio CD and gave the first unit to Kamalakar Reddy.[16]

Mickey J. Meyer Won The Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu and Nandi Award for Best Music Director for this Soundtrack.

Happy Days
Soundtrack album by
Mickey J. Meyer
Released24 August 2007
Recorded2007
GenreSoundtrack
Length28:27
LanguageTelugu
LabelBig Music
ProducerMickey J. Meyer
Mickey J. Meyer chronology
Notebook
(2006)		 Happy Days
(2007)		 Hare Ram
(2008)
Track-List
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Areyrey. Areyrey"VanamaliKarthik4:59
2."Jill Jill Jinga"Venkatesh PatvariKrishna Chaitanya, Kranti, Aditya Siddharth, Sashi Kiran4:34
3."Happy Days"Veturi Sundararama MurthyMickey J. Meyer, Harshika3:51
4."Ya Kundendu"TraditionalPranavi1:24
5."Ye Cheekati"VanamaliRanjith, Sunitha Sarathy4:45
6."O My Friend"VanamaliKarthik5:03
7."Happy Days" (Rock Version)Veturi Sundararama MurthyNaresh Iyer, Mickey J. Meyer3:51
Total length:28:27
Happy Days
Soundtrack album by
Mickey J. Meyer
Released2007
Recorded2007
GenreSoundtrack
Length21:01
LanguageMalayalam
LabelRedakh Arts
Universal Music India
ProducerMickey J. Meyer

All tracks are written by Rajeev Alunkal.

Malayalam Track-List[17]
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Ayyayyo"Karthik4:36
2."Vida Chollam"Anu Pravin, Shobha3:52
3."Unarukayayi"Vidhu Prathap4:31
4."Manasinnu Marayilla"Ajay Satyan4:59
5."Ee Theeppori"Manjari, Ranjith3:03
Total length:21:01

Dubbed Versions and Remakes

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,[18] 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.

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References
  1. "55th Annual Tiger Balm South Filmfare Awards 2008: Winners – Malluwood News & Gossips". Bharatstudent.com (14 July 2008). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.
  2. "Nandi awards 2007 announced – Telugu cinema news". Idlebrain.com (12 January 2008). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.
  3. "Salman Khan to remake Sekhar Kammula’s Happy Days in Hindi". Times of India (29 April 2014). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.
  4. Sekhar Kammula gears up for Bollywood debut". Times of India (2 May 2014). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.
  5. Sekhar Kammula confirms his next film". Times of India (1 May 2014). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.
  6. Video on YouTube
  7. Idle Brain Interview with Sekhar Kammula. Idlebrain.com (26 September 2007). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.
  8. "Audio launch – Happy Days". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  9. "Announcement – Happy Days". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  10. Box Office Collections of Hit Films of Tollywood- 2007. Great Andhra (31 December 2007). Retrieved on 11 May 2016.
  11. "Movie Review – Happy Days". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  12. "Telugu Movie review – Happy Days". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  13. "A Trip Down Memory Lane". Archived from the original on 23 February 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  14. "'Happy Days' Review: A Nostalgic Retreat". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  15. "Happy Days - All Songs - Download or Listen Free - Saavn". Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  16. "Happy Days music launch - Telugu cinema function". www.idlebrain.com.
  17. "Happy Days (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - EP by Mickey J Meyer on iTunes". 1 January 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  18. டோடோவின் ரஃப் நோட்டு — Tamil Kavithai – தமிழ் கவிதைகள் – நூற்று கணக்கில்!. Cinesouth.com. Retrieved on 11 May 2016.
Awards
Preceded by
Bommarillu		 Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu)
2007		 Succeeded by
Gamyam
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