Movie: Happy New Year
Direction: Pannaga Bharana
Cast: B C Patil, Saikumar, Vijay Raghavendra, Digganth, Dhananjay, Sudharani, Sruthi Hariharan, Sonu Gowda, Srushti Patil, Margarita
Five different stories of five completely different lives which do not intersect at any given point of time, and ending differently on New Year’s Eve is the simple crux of Pannaga’s debut. While expectations were naturally riding high for being the son of noted director T S Nagabharana, the director has just managed to showcase his skills of a promising future. Where his debut is concerned, it will just remain a decent start and nothing great in particular.
This multi-starrer with five simple and separate plots, each has a problem of its own. Of the five, the one concerning the police constable portrayed by Vijay Raghavendra is the best which moves the audience for its realistic subject. While Saikumar’s plot makes the audiences laugh, Dhananjay as a radio jockey doing his best to save his love, is watchable. The one with B C Patil as a rugged local rowdy falling in love with a foreign lady who has come to serve the poor, with the plot set in Pattaya is quite ordinary. So, Pannaga has just managed to score passing marks on his debut.
The film being a comeback venture for B C Patil of the Kaurava fame and also launching his daughter Srushti Patil, Happy New Year at least looks happy on screen. The grace marks come from keeping the plots natural or at least ending them realistically by not attempting a melodramatic climax which is obvious in multi-star commercial films.
The star performer is Vijay Raghavendra who effortlessly portrays an honest police constable who is serving as a car driver to his senior officer. The plot is honest too without any exaggerations, and any real and ‘honest’ constable watching it will relate to it. It highlights everyday problems of a police constable and how relentless they have to be, and how the thankless job becomes a challenge in balancing personal life and work.
After watching this, one may even wonder why Vijay with such huge talent is struggling to become a star actor!
Saikumar’s mannerism and Sudharani at their best are enjoyable. Though it may leave you unhappy as a whole but in bits, this film is watchable.
