So what do you select to watch next when your eyes have just been opened to the world of Telugu cinema by MAGADHEERA? I decided to stick with the Chiranjeevi extended family and, after seeing a few clips of Allu Arjun dancing on Youtube, picked Happy as my first foray into his films. Now if you’re like me and have watched a lot of song clips and then subsequently the film you will understand why I didn’t have high hopes for Happy. Allu Arjun looks great and is an amazing dancer, so I have to confess I was fairly sure that he wouldn’t be able to act – after all, no-one is perfect. Boy was I wrong!
Happy stars Allu Arjun as Bunny, a happy-go-lucky orphan from Vizag, who comes to Hyderabad to study. He lands a job and digs at a pizza restaurant when he singlehandedly defeats a gang of students intent on causing trouble. This was early in my current Telugu film watching obsession, but I was still able to recognise Brahmi as the pizza joint manager, and was starting to realise that he has a contract to appear in every single Telugu film ever released. The restaurant also features a DJ, music system and a drum kit, making it possibly the first cross over night club/restaurant in Hyderabad. These do all come in useful however when Bunny announces that he can only fight to music. This ploy also gives us Venu Madhav in a brief comedic cameo role. (note the Chiru T-shirt!)
I think this first song was really commissioned by the Hyderabad tourist agency as it showcases the highlights of the city. It works for me and I would visit if they could assure me that I would get to see Bunny dancing at all the local sightseeing spots just like in this clip.
Bunny’s nemesis is the quiet and dedicated medical student Madhu, played by Genelia in a much less shrill role than usual. This is the film where I realised that Genelia is a very good actress when she doesn’t have to jump around squealing excitedly. I really wish directors would use this quieter and yet much more expressive side to Genelia more. Madhu’s father is a caste leader with political ambitions and holds the view that as women have no place in the workforce, there is no need for his daughter to study. Faced with this opposition, Madhu keeps her head down and tries to be as inconspicuous as possible in the hope that her father will continue to ignore both her and her marriage arrangements until she has finished her degree.
Bunny and Madhu clash from their very first meeting, and a series of misunderstandings makes sure that they each think the worst of each other. When Madhu’s father decides that her studying is bringing her into too much contact with others outside her caste, he arranges her marriage to DCP Arvind – Manoj Bajpay in a rather more comedic role than usual. In a dramatic meeting Madhu accuses Bunny of ruining her life, so he decides to try to prevent her marriage. Yes, it does all sound very familiar, but the twist here is that Arvind supports Bunny’s plan and the two erstwhile enemies end up married and sharing a flat together.
Despite their marriage, Bunny and Madhu are still sworn enemies and they draw a line down the middle of the apartment to demarcate each other’s territory. They continue to harass and annoy each other and Bunny delights in stepping over the line both literally and figuratively to annoy Madhu. This part of the film will be very familiar to anyone who has a younger sibling as the pranks the two play on each other are very juvenile and reminded me of living with my brother. It is also extremely funny and the two actors are excellent at keeping the sparks flying without ever becoming too ridiculous.
Over time the inevitable happens and Bunny falls in love with Madhu. In typical filmi–style devotion he will do absolutely anything for her except to tell her his feelings. Due to his apparently amazing bike skills, Bunny gets a job as a stuntman in the movies and manages to juggle his pizza delivery with leaping over cars and through explosions in order to have money to pay for Madhu’s studies. He slowly acquires more bandages and bruises as the stunts get more and more dangerous although the bike seems to come through everything unscathed. Just when it looks as if the film is building up to a final romantic and ‘happy’ conclusion there is a real chance of pace. My theory is that the director Karunakaran realised that he has only a day left to film but plenty of money left in the fight and make-up budgets. So instead of the expected fluffiness, there is almost a full movie’s worth of drama, action and fisticuffs in the last few minutes of the film, along with buckets and buckets of blood. It was a little unexpected after all the comedy and romance of the preceding two and a half hours, but it certainly makes the end memorable.
After watching a number of his interviews I am quite sure that a lot of this character is Bunny’s real extrovert persona. His performance seems totally natural and spontaneous throughout the film and he excels at conveying his character as much through his posture and mannerisms as through the dialogue and actions. I didn’t even find the coloured contact lenses as distracting as usual and, being an optometrist, contact lenses are often the first thing I notice. Despite the masking quality of coloured plastic, Allu Arjun can deliver every emotion using his eyes. It seems to be another family trait as the entire clan appear to have the most expressive eyes in the industry. The fight scenes are reasonably well choreographed, although they don’t have the slickness of Bunny’s more recent films. But where Allu Arjun really rules is on the dancing stage. He really is an amazing dancer and although there are only a couple of dance tracks in this film, he is totally mesmerising. The music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is catchy and overall works well for the young characters and the happy feel of the film.
Genelia was a revelation to me in this. Previously I’d seen her in a couple of Hindi films and one other Telugu film, where she was generally hyperactive with piercing dialogue delivery. Here she has great chemistry with Allu Arjun in their scenes together and deliveres an excellent performance as the struggling student. She makes the most of her emotional family scenes and is believable as the daughter trying to live up to her father’s expectations while vowing to fulfil her mother’s dreams. Really a good decision by Karunakaran to allow her to be more subtle and showcase her acting talent in this way. Manoj Bajpay indulges in the most scenery chewing I have seen from him, but as always carries his role off with flair. The other support actors all do well enough and a couple of Bunny’s friends make an impression with their roles.
Happy is still one of my favourite films and I re-watch it if I need a pick me up after a bad day. It has comedy, action, drama, great dancing and fantastic performances from the leads. It doesn’t try to be anything other than a masala entertainer and as such it works very well. It would be a five-star movie if it wasn’t for that ending which is just a bit too over the top and ridiculous, even for me. 4 ½ stars.
Cinema Chaat 
You do realize that Allu Arjun is not from Chiranjeevi’s gene pool, right? He’s from Chiru’s wife’s side of the family. 🙂
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Hi mm
Yes, you are absolutely right, and I know that technically it would be more correct to say that Bunny is a member of the Chrianjeevi family, but at the time I saw this I just knew that Chiranjeevi was Bunny’s uncle. I think this was the third or fourth Telugu film I saw, and it was only after a few more films that I started to get an idea of who was who 🙂
I do think he has modeled himself on his uncle though (not just physically!) and I see quite a few similarities between Bunny and Charan. Thanks for pointing it out though, and I’ll change it to be accurate 🙂
Despite having seen a lot more films by many more actors now, I still keep coming back and rewatching films like Happy and every DVD order has a few more Chiru films! They’re a very addictive family!
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Oh boy, you’re so much more generous than me, Heather! I took out a good 3 points for the ridiculous ending, bringing Happy down to about 2 and one of Arjun’s worst movies… Then I saw Arya and Bunny… and Happy went up a bit 🙂
But I do agree that the parts in the middle where their relationship evolves are really well done, and the pranks make me laugh out loud every single time. And you didn’t list it, but Egire Mabbulalona is such a delightful song. I love its beginning with Bunny getting split into two people and one of them jumping off the bike. 😀 If it weren’t for Karige Loga, this would be my favourite Bunny song with no dancing, it’s beyond me how he can be so charismatic… 🙂
Regardless, I’ve still seen it a good 3-4 times… I just stop it at the end of Genelia’s exams now. 😛
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😀 But there is so much good before the ridiculous ending! I’ve seen this so many times, I think I’m secretly starting to enjoy even that!
Happy is definitely the best of Bunny’s earlier films and I’m relieved that I decided on it as the first to watch. I don’t think I would have seen Arya2 (my favourite Telugu film) so quickly if I hadn’t been working my way through all of Bunny’s films after loving (most of) Happy 🙂
I decided to stick with the songs that were my inspiration for watching the film, but Egire Mabbullona is fantastic. I do like the way one of the backing dancers is chased across the front of the stage by another dancer wielding a knife in Ossa Re – it’s just so random!
There are a few nice effects like splitting Bunny in to 2 people as you mention. I also really like the thought bubbles when he is deciding which film to spin into their love story next 🙂
And I can’t explain the charisma either. I put a lot of it down to the eyes, but he also sparkles with life and energy. I’m convinced every time he looks at the camera he’s having the time of his life and that enjoyment is part of it too.
For whatever reason I’m a huge fan and I’m impatiently waiting for the release of Badhrinaadh – although the long hair has me a little apprehensive 😛
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The Movie bombed at box office initially but it’s one of the most watched movie on TV and kids love it..My 5 year old nephew used to cry unless we let him watch this movie everyday. Of course no one likes the ending and we too stop watching it before jenny quarrels with bunny…!! But my nephew & his buddies watch it till the end every time..
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Hi Itachi,
It’s such a shame the end is so violent – the rest really does make me happy! I guess I’m just like a kid when it comes to movies, since I love this one – probably just because it is so silly!
Cheers, Heather
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Apparently I watched this, and have almost no memory of the experience, except for the room-dividing part. (It reminded me of a book from my childhood, “This Room is Mine” http://www.amazon.com/This-Whitman-small-world-library/dp/B0006BPKA8). I think in my mind I’ve somehow merged the pizza delivery subplot from Happy with the pizza delivery subplot from Kanthaswamy, which makes it even more confusing. I’m looking forward to rewatching it, especially for Manoj Bajpai, even if it means I have to suffer through Genelia again.
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I don’t know why the amazon link ate my comment. The first part of that was:
Apparently, I watched this film, but have no memory of it, other than the room-dividing part (which reminded me of a book from my childhood “This Room Is Mine”–followed by the offending Amazon link, which I put there so people could see the fun, mid ’60s artwork, not because I’m a shill for Amazon, but apparently I am!)
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Hi Liz,
Thanks for the link too.
You didn’t remember the ending? Which I think is memorable only in it’s terribleness, but still stands for the sheer amount of blood and what the? fighting scenes! But this was also my first Bunny film so it is etched on my brain somewhat.
I like your Kanthaswamy mix-up idea though. A secret lair in the pizza place could have worked!
Manoj Bajpai is so over the top he even out does Genelia at times! And I do think this is one of her better films – she is much less screechy and the scenes in the flat are really quite sweet. But I understand your trepidation 🙂
I used to fear a Genelia movie but I think repeated exposure has worked a bit like allergy treatment and I now would go as far as saying I quite like her as long as she’s not in hyper-mode. Then I still have to stay clear 😛
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nice review.i really enjoy this film as much as i have enjoyed ur review.i think u have an ability of putting some unwanted spoilers,no offence intended.comin’ to the film,my only qualm about the film is it’s climax.i think this movie has the worst climax ever.the film is only an average flick at the boxoffice,largely attributed to its climax.the general consensus about the movie is that except the climax the movie is highly entertaining.nevertheless,filmmakers should keep in mind that climax is a very crucial part of the film n could not be taken lightly.i hope u also watch arya-2 which has a very unusual characterisation of arjun.
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Hi Krishn,
Thanks for your comment. I totally agree that the ending is terrible, but sadly I have seen worse!
I think it’s more of a disappointment in this film because the rest of it is so good 🙂
Arya2 is my favourite Telugu film and we did actually review it a few months ago here.
Heather
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(Sorry for the longish comment!)
It seems to be a Tollywoodized adaptation of Azhagiya Theeye (2004) ! The original was noted for its sense of not-over-the-top-humour and a very decent execution of a love story and the director Radha Mohan has gone on to direct some more notable films (Mozhi being the most well known)
http://www.sify.com/movies/azhagiya-theeye-review-tamil-pclv4xfcbbagg.html
The hero in Tamil is Prasanna who’s an aspiring film director and a poor assistant director at the moment. And the story is more often than not, quite subdued. And Prakash Raj plays Manoj Bajpai’s role which is slightly meatier (or maybe Prakash Raj just does it so well) and has some hilarious interactions with the hero.
Of course the scene where Prakash Raj asks about how the leads met is so much more well done in the Tamil original where the hero talks about how he saw the heroine first in a white dress coming from a mist
The director later cleverly brings in the same scene in the climax where she emerges from the smoke due to a van spraying mosquito repellent !
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Hi ideallaedi,
Thanks for your comment 🙂 I realised I have a copy of Azhagiya Theeye but I haven’t watched it yet, and my DVD doesn’t have subtitles. I must move it up the pile and watch it soon! It does sound similar – I will get back to you once I’ve seen it!
Cheers, Heather
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