Review: LIB - Happy Days are here again

Life is beautiful is an extension of Sekhar Kammula's previous movies ' 'Dollar Dreams', 'Anand', 'Godavari 'and 'Happy Days'. It has all the trademark elements of a Kammula movie.

To quote the Telugu phrase ' Madhyataragati anuragalu, the movie is replete with those so-called 'middleclass' happy moments - youngsters dancing in the rain, children enjoying paper boat races, hot boiling chai off a bandi, a game of caroms on Sunday afternoons, relishing amma cheti avakaya with hot rice, flying kites on breezy days, gully cricket, colony fights, antakshari on a festival evening, sleeping in the open air on the terrace over a jute mat and talking away till the wee hours'

It is a feel-good movie no doubt. It also has a handful of moments that touch your heart. But it also suffers from too many stereotypes and too many predictable scenes.

The movie is set in Sunshine Colony and tracks the lives of three children ' Sreenu, a boy just out of college; Satya, a girl in her late teens; and Chinni, their eight-year-old sister.

Their mother (Amala) is compelled to leave the children for a year at her brother's house in the colony where the story unfolds. Sreenu falls in love with his maradalu Paddu, Satya falls for a boy from the rival gang in the colony, and Chinni pines for her mom. Meanwhile, friends in the neighbourhood Abhi is smitten with Miss India aspirant Paru (Shriya Saran) and Nagaraj with Lakshmi.

The youngsters seem to be living an idyllic life in the colony, but soon the rivalry with the rich guys in the same colony gets to another level. They realise that money talks and love alone is not enough to sustain.

Just as they start complaining of lack of money, the trio of Sreenu and his siblings face a harsh truth about their mother. That is when they realise that the very gift if life is beautiful. Although money is important for a comfortable life, it is the small pleasures that actually make their life beautiful.

The fact that nobody is a super hero in the movie and nobody mouths dialogues punch dialogues relating to 'maa vamsam' is quite refreshing. Watching young, colourful youngsters having a good time and relishing the intimacy, friendship and relationships is definitely the high point of the movie.

The scenes involving Chinni failing to get admission in an English medium school as she was taught Telugu all through, her speech about her mother in English at the end of the movie are heart tugging. So is love between Nagaraj and Lakshmi, the Telangana dialect and the 'direct dil se' love is cute.

The love story between Abhi and Paru is a bit jarring as they seem like a mismatch. Abhi looks more smitten than being in love with Paru. Also the way Kammula drags the colony fights between the rich and the poor guys. The squabbles are predictable and it keeps happening every few ten minutes. The stereotypes are also a bit unsettling.

The movie almost conveys that all money people ' those who live in duplex bungalows and drive cars ' are all evil, have no ethics or morals. Be it the character of Paddu's mom (Surekha Vani), rich guy Manish or Lakshmi's boss, everybody is invariably portrayed as awful folks.

However, all people who live in the chawls and struggle for money are golden hearted and filled with love. It is almost like if you have money, you are bad and if you don't, you are one with a heart.

The predictable scenes like Lakshmi's boss misbehaving with her and Shriya falling for the middleclass smart boy Abhi could have been better. The usage of the flying, surveillance camera is contemporary.

Mike Myers music has a certain soothing quality that goes with the overall feel-good mood of the film. Emito emito is catchy and has been picturised to be a visual treat. Shriya and Anjala look gorgeous and have been showcased in a beautiful, feminine way.

Amala has a brief role, but adds value to the goings-on. All the youngsters put up a spirited show. Newcomers Shagun and Sudhakar especially shine through and may well get more offers.

Overall, it is a family entertainer that will get the older generation nostalgic and perhaps will make the younger generation realise there is life beyond mobile phones, Facebook and hot wheels.