Happy Days is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language musical coming of age film written, produced and directed by Sekhar Kammula. The film features Varun Sandesh, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rahul Haridas, Nikhil Siddharth, Vamsee Krishna, Sonia Deepti, Gayatri Rao, and Monali Chowdhary in the lead roles.

The film follows eight diverse students pursuing engineering at CBIT navigating their four years of college life. It explores their friendships, rivalries, romantic relationships, and self-discovery, capturing the essence of campus experiences and the transition into adulthood.

The film received a positive response and was a huge box office success, redefining the coming-of-age college drama in Telugu cinema. The film won three Nandi Awards, and six Filmfare Awards."Nandi awards 2007 announced – Telugu cinema news" . Idlebrain.com (12 January 2008). Retrieved on 2016-05-11."55th Annual Tiger Balm South Filmfare Awards 2008: Winners – Malluwood News & Gossips" . Bharatstudent.com (14 July 2008). Retrieved on 2016-05-11. Happy Days is widely considered a modern classic of Telugu cinema, holding significant cultural impact, notably influencing many students to pursue engineering. The film was dubbed in Malayalam with same title and was remade in Kannada as Jolly Days and in Tamil as Inidhu Inidhu by actor Prakash Raj.

Cast

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 Bhatia as a suitable actress was not found.Idle Brain Interview with Sekhar Kammula . Idlebrain.com (26 September 2007). Retrieved on 2016-05-11. The main lead of the film, Varun Sandesh, was selected using the internet without any direct audition. He sent his photograph by e-mail in response to the idlebrain.com advertisement and subsequently sent a video clip of himself enacting certain scenes along with a song. Damidi Kamalakar Reddy, founding Secretary and Treasurer of Chaitanya Engineering College, acted as a Professor/Lecturer in a brief cameo role.

Filming Most of the shooting took place at Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology (MGIT). The opening scene between Appu and Rajesh was shot in MGIT with select scenes shot outdoors. Sekhar being an alumnus of CBIT, 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.

Cost-cutting measures Sekhar Kammula cut costs of producing the film through various methods. By casting newcomers, he reduced 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 an additional ₹10 lakh on the costumes budget.

Music Music was composed by Mickey J Meyer and released by Big Music. The audio launch took place at Annapurna Studios on 24 August 2007, 100 students selected from various colleges in Hyderabad attended. 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), Ilayaraja, Swapna, C Vijaya Kumar, Ashok and the star cast. BN Reddy launched the audio CD and gave the first unit to Kamalakar Reddy.

Mickey J Meyer won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu and Nandi Award for Best Music Director for this soundtrack.

Release Happy Days was released on 28 September 2007 in the United States and 2 October 2007 in India.

Reception Critical response The film received positive reviews for its fresh story, cast, screenplay, and songs. A critic from Rediff.com wrote that "Don't miss Happy Days for you will be reminded of the days gone by. Savour that nostalgia as Sekhar gives you ample amount of it". Jeevi of Idlebrain.com wrote that "If he sticks to his sensibilities, Sekhar Kammula can never make a bad film. Go and watch Happy Days."

Awards

Filmfare Awards South – 2008 Best film – Sekhar Kammula Best Director – Sekhar Kammula Best Supporting Actress – Sonia Deepti Best Music Director – Mickey J. Meyer Best Lyricist – Vanamali ("Arere Arere") Best Male Playback Singer – Karthik ("Arere Arere") Nandi Awards – 2008 Second Best Feature 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 ("Arere Arere") Best Lyricist – Veturi Best Male Singer – Karthik ("Arere Arere")

Dubbed versions and remakes The film was dubbed into Malayalam as Happy Days Once in Life and remade in Kannada as Jolly Days and released in 2008. Both versions proved to be successful. The Tamil remake, Inidhu Inidhu (2010),டோடோவின் ரஃப் நோட்டு — Tamil Kavithai – தமிழ் கவிதைகள் – நூற்று கணக்கில்!. Cinesouth.com. Retrieved on 11 May 2016. was directed by noted cinematographer K. V. Guhan under actor Prakash Raj's Duet Movies banner. Mickey J. Meyer was retained as the music director for both films and the project was his first venture in each language, respectively.

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."Salman Khan to remake Sekhar Kammula’s Happy Days in Hindi" . Times of India (29 April 2014). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.Sekhar Kammula gears up for Bollywood debut" . Times of India (2 May 2014). Retrieved on 2016-05-11.Sekhar Kammula confirms his next film" . Times of India (1 May 2014). Retrieved on 2016-05-11. However, there were no further updates.

References

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