Happy New Year
Kannada (U) ****
Cast: Vijaya Raghavendra, Diganth, Dhananjay, Sudharani, Shruthi Hariharan, Sonu Gowda, B C Patil, Saikumar, Margarita, Srushti Patil
Director: Pannaga Bharana
Like father, like son. Pannaga, who offers his directorial debut Happy New Year as a gift to his dad, does papa Nagabharana immensely proud. Though not of art-house class, Pannaga shows ample promise in his maiden attempt. A fine-tuning of the script and a taut narrative structure would have worked wonders.
While Pannaga flounders around in the first half, he comes into his own in the second half with deftness and understanding of the craft. Inspired by South Asian and European films of the genre, Pannaga has astutely localised his film, embellishing it with subtlety and creativity. Happy New year is a set piece of five independent, interesting tales with the vicissitudes of human relationships as the common thread.
A conscientious cop trying to juggle home and office; a hardened rowdy who flips for a philanthropist foreigner; a dreamy middle-aged car showroom manager drawn to a young saleswoman; a stand-up comedian trying to bring laughter and sunshine into the life of his terminally ill partner; and a workaholic techie who discovers what it is to fall in love, on a vacation to Pattaya — these are the characters around whom Pannaga explores the niceties of romantic relationships. The quintet sparkles with delightful performances while Raghu Dixit’s zappy scores add more zest.
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