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Showing posts with label Sekhar Kammula's HAPPY DAYS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sekhar Kammula's HAPPY DAYS. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
USA Movie Schedules - Happy Days
Movie Schedules & Ticket Info
Press Note: Jil Jil Jingha...'HAPPY DAYS' Rocks
"HAPPY DAYS: has every thing....Memorable Performances by the New Comers, Peppy Music, Beautiful Photography, Crisp Editing and above all its "Sekhar Kammula's" Direction that did the Magic.
To mark the wonderful success of the movie, Varun Sandesh who played as Chandu in the movie is coming on 26th Oct to Park Theatre, Fremont to thank the people for all the support. Along with the meet and greet of Varun autographed posters and CD's of HAPPY DAYS will be given for the winners of the lucky dip. Don't miss this opportunity.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sekhar Kammula: 'This Is My Highest Grosser So Far'
He had thought provokingly knocked the brains with 'Dollar Dreams'. He gently knocked the hearts with 'Anand'. He pleasantly touched the senses with ' Godavari'. And now he unleashed the way to make big business with small investment and rich idea called 'Happy Days'. He is Sekhar Kammula, the renowned director with different substance.
He says the fresh film 'Happy Days' has crossed his expectations completely.
"This is the highest grosser in my filmography so far. It's houseful everywhere. Numbers would be deceptive in first week. But it's true now. Devi, the biggest theatre in RTC cross roads is screening this film. Even the big films dare less to release in this film as it becomes difficult to continue their stand for many days. But 'Happy Days', out of my surprise, is running housefuls in that even in second week. That's really fantastic. Many are saying that it's going to be 150 days film. It's almost in 10 theaters in Hyderabad like a big film", shared Sekhar Kammula.
He also added saying, "It's like a big wave in Vizag, Kakinada and many other towns. We didn't expect this range initially. Audiences are always beyond film makers and reviewers. That's proved once again".
Sekhar Kammula also said that he is yet to think about his next film and it takes time to write that.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Comparison Between 'Chirutha' and 'Happy Days'
There appears to be only one formula to get big openings for small films. It is sure that big films need not have very big pre-release publicity. If they do, that adds a little extent for the openings. But small films definitely need publicity. Many small directors and producers assume that the audiences would gush into theaters if they arrange for 4 press meets and 40 posters before the release. Today, even distributors are not coming forward for such hype. The only thing that pumps in life for the collections of any film is 'good mouth publicity'. That is possible only when the film comes out well. Small directors and producers have no other way other than making films in very interesting way. Right story, right screenplay and right interesting element are the core points for success. All this makes a film get good collections.
Just comparing between 'Chirutha' and 'Happy Days', the former has one and only interest point-that is the introduction of Chiranjeevi's son. That brought very big openings but eventually due to the lack of proper story line it is turning off. On the other hand, in 'Happy Days' there are no stars and there are no sons of big stars. All are new faces and new names except Sekhar Kammula. But still the film is ruling the roost. The only interest element for its success is the talk that says, 'a very good movie'.
One thing is straight- Sekhar Kammula brought interest on his film from the beginning by announcing 'Talent Search', then tied up with corporate sponsorships. He got right casting, able to extract melodious music from Mickey, and then released the film in overseas first. 'Chirutha' pulled interest of people by not showing the face of Ram Charan in any trailer before the release of the film.
Both films opened well. Chirutha bagged huge collections because of the hype and number of prints then fell flat, but at the end Happy Days sustained!!
Friday, October 12, 2007
'Happy Days' Guy Says It's Unbelievable
Varun Sandesh. The name is not so familiar yet. But if we say 'Chandu' in Happy Days...people can easily make out. Varun Sandesh is the guy who acted as Chandu in 'Happy Days'. He is doing his plus two in USA and came to know about Sekhar Kammula's announcement of talent search. He had simply sent a mail with his photographs to Sekhar. He then got a reply from Sekhar asking to act in a couple of specified scenes and send the CD. Varun did that. Then he got a call from Aneesh, the executive producer of 'Happy Days'. Varun was told that he was selected for a role in the film and hence asked him to fly down to Hyderabad. That's the happiest day in his life he says.
He was asked to do rehearsals initially and the first scene he acted was the ragging scene with seniors. As there are no dialogues for him in that scene, it became a bit easier to do. But he says that he felt afraid to some extent while acting in love scenes with Tamanna. He also said that Tamanna herself pumped in courage in her to do those roles.
Everything went on well. The film released. And now Varun is a celebrity in college student circles. He is getting number of fan mails and phone calls. Now he got a chance to act in Dil Raju's next film 'Koththa Bangaru Lokam'. Varun says that he has the desire to work with directors like Puri Jagannath and Bhasker. Now acting became his priority. He says that he will be focusing on it after completing plus 2.
Varun is the grand son of popular literary person Jeedigunta Ramachandra Murthy. He says humbly that his favorite actor is Jr NTR and 'Simhadri' is his favorite film.
Sekhar Kammula: 'They Are Saying I'm Going Thinner'
Sekhar Kammula obviously is in the hang over of success now. 'Happy Days' is ruling the roost everywhere. Sekhar says that he has gone very close to people with this film.
In an interview given on a TV channel he says, "People are making calls to me and asking, 'Babu! Ila chikkipoyavemiti?'. That is how the people are considering me as a member in their family. I don't have bigger goals. I have some small set of goals and will be fulfilled if I reach them".
Yes, Sekhar is highly reserved and he didn't tell what those small goals are.
Answering to any question he said, "New artistes would show bigger drive that established ones. I used to show more drive while doing Dollar Dreams and Anand. I have seen the same spirit in these 8 boys and girls worked for 'Happy Days'".
It's still a high task to get the ticket of Happy Days an hour before the show. One has to go for advance booking one day before.
Trade Buzz: Happy Days in Minneapolis
When you walk into a movie and realise that the dialogues are being narated by the audience in unison before they hit the screen you know that the movie is good, this is what happened at Brookdale 8 Cinemas, Minneapolis on Sunday which was the last show of HAPPY DAYS. It was a great sight on Friday to see the auditorium packed for the 9pm show; people did not mind watching the show squating on the floor, the standing ovation at the end of the movie was a great tribute and a sign of acceptence of the movie. The other part that made this movie experience great was the lucky draw, winning the draw ment watching your name on the screen. It is really exciting to see this center packed for this movie with unknow artists when movies like Chirutha and Yamadonga hardly saw housefull crowds. I guess what seperates this movie is SEKHAR KAMMULA. His strength is his ability to connect to his audience his movies remains true to his ideas. This seperates him from other directors who use illogical logic in the name of mass which is a disgrace. The movie takes you down the nostalgic memory lane of yester years and do not miss it.
HIGHLIGHTS
- House full crowds first time this year.
- 15 students watch all the 5 shows.
- Lucky draw a huge success.
- Standing ovation at the end of the movie for all shows.
Finally the new management at BROOKDALE 8 CINEMAS, Minneapolis deserves special thanks in bringing a theater which caters to the needs of the Indian cinema. The trio Vijay Beeram, Shankar Bandi and Madhu Kollan are a new brand of entrepreneurs dedicated in bringing entertainment to the Andhrites in America. This new venture Brookdale 8 cinema is dedicated to Indian cinema. The theater has already seen some major rennovation. The experience is just like watching a movie back home with advertisiments and trailers on screen in the breaks and a bell to indicate the end of the interval complete the Indian movie experience at this theater. Thank you guys.
Trade Talk: The Week Of A Small, A Dubbed and A Big Film
The film 'Bhayya' that was released last week could appeal only for B, C Center audiences with trade mark action scenes by Vishal. There is no novelty in the story and that turned out to be a minus point. But Vishal's comedy and high voltage fights impressed all. Vijayan's efforts are seen in big way in this film in the matter of fights. There is no other thing to say about this dubbed film.
And the wonder of the week is the triumphant success of 'Happy Days'. The film is bringing merry for the makers. The theaters are seen with houseful boards in many places. It's a film that brought the story of 4 years of engineering college life without any melodrama, sentiment or violence.
The collections have dropped for the film 'Chirutha' as it lacked in proper story line and effective narration. Although it was opined that it wouldn't be a minus for the film initially, the affects are seen now. Theatres are seen with vacant seats especially in all the shows of week days.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Happy Days : Pichimaalokam perspective
There is a saying, success succeeds like anything. Happy Days became a super hit in USA as well as in India. I hear that Happy Days ticket is selling at Rs 500 price in black at Viswanath, Kukatpally. I also heard people are giving standing ovations when Sekhar Kammula’s name pops up at the end of the movie.
Having said that, let’s see what is going on.
- Some of the reviews mentioned how can Rajesh speak Telangaana when he is from proddutur.
- Some say., few of the side actors did not act well.
- Some say it has no story, some say it is not realistic.
- Oh., It is not a mass movie and caters to only A centers.
I would like to ask all these folks.,!!
- Can you stop a train and make it go back words by showing a finger.
- Can a hero fight 100 people a at a time and casually kill them.
- How can hero fly, run like a cheetah and jump on buildings.
Are they realistic!!
Movies are for entertainment. Irrespective of whether a movie is good or bad, the only term that works in the industry is success. When people accept a movie it is called a Hit. When they reject it is called a flop. These days every flop movie is also a hit and there are success meets where you can see director and the whole team lying. The other day a director was seen on TV speaking with half closed eyes, his hand on his heart , how his flop movie (with a festival name) is doing well in all centers. I feel like putting all these liars on polygraph tests.
Happy Days is a genuine hit. It is heartening to see when a good movie becomes a hit. Let us congratulate Sekhar for providing us with clean family entertainment. He is trying to make simple films, he had the guts to release it along with big movies. Let’s stop whining about why Pandu’s mother did not act well. Let’s stop crying about how can Juniors hit a senior. Every movie, every person, every one’s life has some glitches. What matters is did we do well over all.
We are all human beings, and no one is perfect. If every movie has to be perfect, no one can make one. Can you name a perfect movie. There is none. It is just like asking for a wife who looks like Aishwarya Rai and expecting her to cook well and sing too. It is just that unreal.
Please take a step back, relax and enjoy your life. Let’s stop brooding and enjoy Happy Days. If you cannot, Please take a walk. Take a break, be positive and be happy. We are all blessed to have someone like sekhar in telugu industry. If he can’t make perfect films, he is just making films that a segment of people really like.
Happy Days!!
O Pichimaalokam
O Pichimaalokam
Trade Buzz: Happy Days Ticket At Rs 500
The black tickets of 'Happy Days' are sold out at Rs 500. One is getting tickets only for the next day's evening show. It never happened even for the big budget films of big stars in recent times. The tickets are being sold in black at cheaper rates, say Rs 200 in the outskirt theatres. Rising to this demand and heavy traffic at the theaters, a private show was screened in Prasad's labs on 8 th October to cater for the families those obligate Sekhar Kammula to show the film.
Going by this tempo the film may collect Rs 15 cr - 20 Cr, say trade pundits. "The budget incurred on it is just Rs 3 Cr but see the response!!!! That's incredible but the film deserves", opines a film director.
Sekhar Kammula is in deep hangover of the success of this film.
Some Ramblings - Happy Days
Thematically (cinematically) speaking, the period is a gold mine of ideas. Pick any emotion during the adolescent period, pick any experience in that early adulthood time, and the situation would lend itself quite easily to be explored to the fullest, and the result would be one that is universally understood and instantly identifiable. The period does not belong to just one generation and the experiences are not relegated to one selected sect. There is a commonality in the theme that spans generations, and all that is different is how each generation comes face to face with the same old truths of coming of age and how each tries to confront/overcome/learn from it. Take the old movie "velugu neeDalu" of the 60s, and the song "bhale bhale manchi rOjulae, maLLee maLLee ika raavulae" for example, and one can clearly see, that the future, that held added responsibility, marriage, kids, and even the prospect of unemployment, was as much uncertain and daunting back then as it is now. Move a couple more decades down the line to "Siva" in the 80s, and the song "Botany paaTHamundi maatinee aaTa vundi" makes the case clear enough during the lines "undigaa September March painaa, vaayidaa paddhatundi daenikainaa", that studies were as much a bother, and getting over them was much as a headache back then, as it is now. The appeal of those themes crossing over many ages, eras and periods is unmistakable, and it is more because of the instant identification of the pain. John Hughes, the famed Hollywood maker during the 80s, who specialized in movies that dealt with teenage angst, the eagerness to fit in, the rebellious nature and other troubled aspects during the school/college days ("Pretty in Pink", "16 Candles", "Breakfast Club", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" etc), carved a niche for himself in this genre. He did so not in the usual heavy-handed way that teenage movies get brushed off, but by treating each problem on its own merit, fully exploring the reasons behind and consequences of such angst, in a very intelligent, sensitive, and importantly, an adult way. Ultimately it comes down to the choices as a writer, when penning a teenage/coming of age/nostalgic movie, how does the writer deal with pain, the prevalent permanent fixture in teenage. Does the maker try to understand the mechanics of that age, empathize with the decisions, and provide the right motivations for his characters, or does he just want to romanticize that period, paint the complete portrait in broadstrokes and gloss over the painful parts?
"Happy Days" makes a case for the latter, as Kammula tries to take the easy route, both as the writer and the director, reducing the movie to a glorified music video, than trying to represent the real voice of a generation, that desperately wants to be heard. First, the writing. It is a fair choice that Kammula tried to deal only with the issue of romance, as against other pressing, and thematically richer, aspects of the student's life. (A movie is never what it is about, than how it goes about doing it.) And since "Happy Days" is projected as something a little closer to real life, the romance aspect - the falling in love, the courting, the heartbreak and the eventual patchup, was expected to be little more sincere (read awkward, clumsy, embarassing, not to mention, cute and funny), and all that the characters get to mouth are "nuvvu ivaaLa baagunnav", "nuvvu ivaaLa chaalaa baagunnav", "nuvvu ivaaLa chaalaa andamgaa unnav" at regularly timed intervals, sporting soft, dewey looks, that look cute on a puppy dog for any length of time, but on a person, wears off very quickly. Hiding behind the fact that this is closer depiction of real life, and that nobody would talk like a Kalidas or Devadas when dealing with romantic issues, would be a cheap cop out. Since it avails all the other advantages of commercial movie format, like songs, story arcs, and dramatic situations, that are otherwise denied to stricter formats like documentaries where melodramatic words would feel out of place, the above dialogues (and many more like them peppered liberally through the length of the movie) amount to nothing more than bad writing.
Observe the following two contrasting situations, how writing (read, dialogues) is important to elevate the emotion of the situation. 1. Mani Ratnam's "Gitanjali" - another case of horrible writing, written in typical Ratnam style, in stuttering spurts with botched beginnings and abrupt endings ("yae? yae?", "andukae!", "yae?", "nuvvu naaku isTam laedu", "yae?", "naenu chacchi pOtunnaanu"). But "Gitanjali" still rises above its mediocre writing, because of the seriousness of the subject, and the way it is handled with all the right sensitivity and sensibilities. 2. Trivikram's "Nuvve Kavali" - take the scene, where it becomes evident to Madhu than Tarun is in fact in love with her, as he talks about leaving Madhu and all their past history means nothing in the end ("veLLipOyina kotthallO phone lu chaestaav, uttaraalu raastaav, konnaaLLaki avee taggipOtaayi, eppuDO okaTO, renDO, uttaraalO, phone lO, nee illu, nee moguDu, nee pillalu, nee busy lO nuvvu paDipOtaav, konnaeLLaki nannu poorthigaa marchipOtaav"... or something to that effect). The sitution is real-life like, the dialogues, very much grounded in reality and far removed from theatricality, speak with all the honesty and sincerety, and convey exactly how and what the character feels. Compare it to "Happy Days", (that already treads on very thin ice (plot)), where every alternate dialogue is a "nuvvu chaala baagunnav" during the courting phase, "pOvae/pOraa, nuvvu evariki kaavaali" during the tiff phase, or a "sorry, nuvvu naaku kaavaali" during the patchup phase. If Kammula wanted to depict the feelings visually, instead of relying on the word, even that does not come across any fresh or any interesting either, as the camera overdoses on fluttering eyes, self-conscious and unnecessary smiles, slow motions and countless montages (Compre it with "Kaadal", which tries to depict the same adolescent love, visually, without the aid of any words or any camera gimmickry, for greater effect and better results). The writing point needs to be stressed, because the potential in most of the situations that Kammula chose to depict in the student life (ragging, courting, betrayal, jealousy etc) for drawing out the right effect, is too great to be frittered away in clunky and tired dialogues.
Next, the acting. It is quite unfortunate that a worldwide search for talent netted these guys and gals, most of whom, cannot talk right, leave alone acting right. With exception to Nikhil (who seems to be a very good prospect and a quite competent one, both in terms of dramatics and dialogue delivery), none of the other leads seem to have a basic comprehension or even a minimum understanding of what constitutes Telugu, with their terrible accents and irritating dictions. If this is indeed how college people speak in real life, as though Telugu is not their mothertongue but some special third language requirement they take to honor the curriculum requirements, it is a sad day for Telugu movies, Telugu language, and Telugu culture as a whole. It is high time that Telugu makers take the route that Tamil filmdom has taken a long time ago - pay scant respect to the looks and concentrate on what it takes to make it right - right acting and right writing. The deplorable state of the language (and the prospect of it getting even worse) is never more evident than in "Happy Days", which needs to be appreciated on this one count, of bringing this burning issue to the fore, albeit unknowingly. With exception to Telugu, probably no other filmdom willingly allows its language or its culture to be butchered or subverted to this extent, in the name of fashion or style, and it is quite unfortunate that makers as Kammula, who proclaim themselves as torch-bearers of good Telugu cinema, stand as mute spectators or unwitting participants in this carnage of the language. Right acting is not just putting on the right wear and looking good on the screen. Dialogue delivery is inherent to good acting, in just the same way as bad delivery and mock accents make up terrible acting. Non-existent plot, mediocre writing and horrendous acting - "Happy Days" is just false advertising.
If this is what Engineering students are, how they walk, talk, sound and move around, enough to say, that students of other non-Engineering disciplines aren't missing much!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Opinion: Happy Days - Tollywood Neads Many More!
It is refreshing to see once in a while a telugu movie,
- Which does not show people killing each other
- Which does not have any of the standard comedians yet generate lot's of laughs
- Which does not have songs pictured in foreign locations or huge sets
- Which does not have atleast one known star in the lead cast
- Which does not have an "Item Song"
- Which does not have hot shot Technicians
- Which does not cause embarrassment to watch with entire family
Over the years tollywood has adopted some or all of the above ingredients in making any kind of film.
Kudos to Sekhar Kammula who has refused to adopt the routine formula of film making in tollywood and has shown that you can still make a successful movie without the "standard" stuff.
Shekar has chosen a genre of film which was not popularly attempted but has stuck to classic style of screenplay while narrating the story. The scenes involving misunderstanding between lead characters, college picnic, ragging are shown in many films, but it's the dialogues, actors and locales that brought lot freshness to the film.
The director has kept the characterization simple and did not go overboard with mannerisms and emotions. Music is good and technical values are up to the mark. Though the cast is new, Sekhar was able to extract decent output. I felt like few characters have strong resemblance to "Saved by Bell" a popular teen shows on NBC aired some time in late 80's and early 90's. (Sorry Sekhar, if that's not the case).
Overall the movie is thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended for everybody... Unfortunately you won't get many movies like this... so when you get one of those, go watch and enjoy it...
Finally , Tollywood , needs more Sekhar's to get itself out of the trap that contains Star Images, Huge spending, Violence, Vulgarity and can bring many more Happy Days.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Trade Talk: A Mass Masala And A Class Flick
Two films have released this week out of which one is the much awaited block buster and the other is a film that enthralled critics and college students.
Ram Charan's 'Chirutha' has given success for Ram Charan but the film proved to be failed in substance. The audiences those have assumed that there would be good depth in the story of Ram Charan's debut have got disappointed. But Ram Charan entertained the audiences with his dances and fights. Critics say that Ram Charan's characterization, weak story line, feeble narration and Neha Sharma's acting made the film a dull retreat. The collections for this film in first week are very good but eventually a drop is observed.
But Sekhar Kammula's 'Happy Days' that was released in Andhra on 2nd October is doing very well by attracting college students. The film has depicted the relations between class mates in an engineering college in a very sensitive way. The film has made 100 percent openings in A centers.
NTR's 'Yamadonga' complete its 50 days run and running ahead.
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