Happy New Year, sometimes abbreviated as HNY is a 2014 Indian musical heist comedy-drama film directed by Farah Khan and produced by Gauri Khan under the banner of Red Chillies Entertainment. The film has an ensemble cast, which includes Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah and Jackie Shroff. The film was distributed worldwide by Yash Raj Films. The film marked a third collaboration of Khan with the director; they previously worked on Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007), the latter of which also featured Deepika Padukone as the female lead.
The film was released on Diwali, 24 October 2014 in three different languages: Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in around 4200 screens in Hindi and 800 screens in Tamil and Telugu, the biggest release for a Hindi film in India. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success. It ranks among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences features the film's script in their library.
Video Happy New Year (2014 film)
Plot
Charlie, is a street fighter who has been yearning for revenge from Charan Grover for 8 years. Grover labeled Charlie's father as a thief because Charan had conned him into stealing his own Diamonds worth $15 million. Charlie finds out that diamonds worth $300 crore will reach the Atlantis Hotel on Christmas Eve. He wants to steal the same diamonds and frame Grover. To accomplish this, he assembles a dynamic team consisting of Jag, Tammy, Rohan Singh and a lookalike of Vicky Grover(Charan grover's son), named Nandu Bhide.
Tammy is the only one to open the vault. The team finds out that the room 9C, connected to the vault through duct system, is booked for a participant in the World Dance Championship. The group refuses, but Charlie re-motivates the group, convincing them to become a dance team. The film moves to a flashback-- Manohar, Chalie's father met Charan Grover who gave him a contract to build an impenetrable vault. After the vault was completed, Charan drugged Manohar and conned him into stealing the diamonds by using his fingerprints. The film returns back where desperate to win the competition, they employ many dance teachers, but to no avail. In desperation, Nandu introduces Charlie to Mohini, who is a Marathi bar dancer. Mohini eventually helps them learn to dance, unaware of their intentions. Charlie and Mohini grow very close.
They manage to qualify in the first round by bribing the judges and eventually win the competition to represent Team India in the WDC by gaining votes through hacking. Many people despise them for their lack of dancing skill, but Charlie and his team are all only concerned with the heist except Mohini. In Dubai, Team Korea are especially hostile towards Team India, including Grover. At the semi final, Charlie saves a Korean member, instantly gaining respect and admiration from the audience. India advances to finals after judges are moved by Charlie's action. Team India becomes loved by everyone. After going over the plan, everything is ready. The team eventually find out that the diamonds will arrive on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas which impedes the heist.
Mohini ends up hearing about heist, angrily confronting Charlie and his false motivations of the competition. Charlie reveals a shocking secret that Manohar is actually dead. After Manohar was arrested, he appealed for a trial, but Grover bribed Manohar's lawyers. The next day, Manohar committed suicide by slitting his wrists. Charlie kept this a secret to avoid demoralisation. However, the team makes their determination to avenge Manohar even stronger. Mohini joins the team and helps them for the heist.
The night of the final round, the heist is set in motion. Mohini lures Vicky into an elevator, where his thumbprint is copied on Nandu who opens the chamber. They open the crack but Charlie and Tammy find another glass safe which houses the diamonds. Tammy realizes that Manohar built this safe. Charlie opens the safe later after deep thinking. After stealing the diamonds, the team boards a boat, but Mohini refuses to come as she feels dedicated to protecting India's honor with the competition. Rohan joins her as well, leading to a fight amongst the remaining members.
When Team India is found missing, Grover claims that they are the thieves. As he watches Mohini perform, other members also join her. Soon after, Charlie makes appearance and eventually helps the team win the competition. With all suspicions removed from Team India, Charan and Vicky Grover are arrested. Charlie reveals himself to Charan and completes the revenge. Team India reach the airport and manage to bypass security. Charlie camouflages the diamonds in his soft-drink, but the security guard disposes it. Later, during the flight Charlie reveals that he switched the fake diamonds on the trophy with the real ones. The team reaches India.
During a post-credits scene, Mohini opens her own "Dence School" and everyone laughs at Nandu who is thrown out of bank for showing a winners' cheque.
Maps Happy New Year (2014 film)
Cast
- Shah Rukh Khan as Chandramohan Manohar Sharma aka Charlie
- Deepika Padukone as Mohini Joshi
- Abhishek Bachchan as Nandu Bhide & Vicky Grover
- Sonu Sood as Captain Jagmohan Prakash aka Jag
- Boman Irani as Temhton Irani aka Tammy
- Vivaan Shah as Rohan Singh, Jag's Nephew
- Jackie Shroff as Charan Grover
- Mohan Kapur as Assistant of Charan Grover
- Varun Pruthi as Charan Grover's Assistant
- Kavi Shastri as Mr. Gupta
- Anupam Kher as Manohar Sharma, Father of Charlie
- Daisy Irani as Tammy's mother (cameo)
- Sarah-Jane Dias as Laila (cameo)
- Dino Morea as host of World Dance Championship (cameo)
- Kiku Sharda as Saroj Khan/(a dance choreographer)
- Prabhu Deva as dance instructor (cameo)
- Malaika Arora Khan as the heroine of a film (cameo)
- Anurag Kashyap as himself/Judge of World Dance Championship Auditions (cameo)
- Vishal Dadlani as himself/Judge of World Dance Championship Auditions (cameo)
- Sajid Khan as director of a film (special appearance)
- Jason Tham as Team Korea Leader
Production
Development
Plans for the film began way back in 2005 with an ensemble cast of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone (in her film debut), Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Uday Chopra, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Zayed Khan and Manisha Koirala. The film was shelved for unknown reasons and instead, Farah Khan made Om Shanti Om (2007) which featured Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. After her film Tees Maar Khan (2010), Farah began to consider the possibilities of the film and screenwriting was completed by October 2012.
When the film was revived, the filmmakers wanted an established actress in the lead role opposite Khan. In December 2012, media reported that the makers had approached Priyanka Chopra for the role, who was their first choice for the film after the script was revamped. However, Chopra turned down the film due to dates issue; the schedule was clashing with another film she had signed. Later several actresses were considered for the role such as Sonakshi Sinha, Asin, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Parineeti Chopra and Katrina Kaif, however Deepika Padukone was finalized, making it her third film with Shah Rukh Khan after Om Shanti Om and Chennai Express (2013). Khan was reported to be playing the role of a con artist in the film which had Deepika in the role of a Marathi dancer. At a point, John Abraham was to play one of the supporting roles but Sonu Sood replaced him. Boman Irani was confirmed by the director during an interview. In August 2013, Jackie Shroff was finalised to play the film's antagonist. The director's brother Sajid Khan would be making a guest appearance while actress Malaika Arora Khan was also signed to appear in a cameo role. Vivaan Shah was reported to play the role of a computer hacker. Actor-director Prabhu Deva performed a dance in a cameo appearance for the film.
Filming
Farah made the official announcement of the film on Twitter. The first schedule of filming started in Dubai. Arabian Business reported that a major portion of the film will be shot in the prestigious Atlantis, The Palm. On 23 January 2014, Shah Rukh Khan was injured while shooting for the film at JW Marriott Hotel, Mumbai. Though reported as minor at first, he suffered a fractured shoulder and a torn left knee patella, being advised rest for a while. Mehboob Studios was used as one of the major locations while certain portions were also filmed near the Wilson College. The final schedule was completed in August 2014.
Marketing
To promote the film, digitally personalized posters written in cast members' handwriting were made available to social media users.
The film's cast and crew, along with rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh and actress Madhuri Dixit travelled on a promotional tour titled "SLAM!". Starting from 19 September in Houston, it took place in New Jersey, Washington, Toronto, Chicago, Vancouver and San Jose. "SLAM!" also continued to United Kingdom on 5 October.
On 13 October 2014, an official game based on the movie, titled Happy New Year-The Game was released for Android and iOS. It was made in collaboration with the production company and Gameshastra India, an Indian game art outsourcing studio.
Distribution rights
The worldwide distribution rights were sold to Yash Raj Films for INR1.25 billion (US$19 million), the satellite rights were sold to Zee Network for INR650 million (US$10 million) and the music rights to T-Series for INR120 million (US$1.8 million), earning a total pre-release revenue of INR2.02 billion (US$31 million).
Soundtrack
The music of Happy New Year is composed by the duo of Vishal-Shekhar while the lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil. The full soundtrack was launched on 15 September 2014. Prior to that, promotional music videos were released for "Indiawaale" and "Manwa Laage" on 2 and 9 September respectively. After the album was launched, promotional videos of the songs "Lovely", "Nonsense Ki Night" and "Satakli" were also released. A track, India Waale, is in Just Dance Now, DLC in Just Dance 2015 and is part of the Just Dance Unlimited service for Just Dance 2016, Just Dance 2017 and Just Dance 2018.
Reception
The soundtrack gained mostly positive reviews from music critics.
Kasmin Fernandes at The Times of India felt, "As a heist film centred round a dance competition, Happy New Year provides plenty of fodder for composers Vishal and Shekhar and lyricist Irshad Kamil to showcase their way with sounds. And they've delivered, with seven original tracks, one electronic version, a variation, a medley and an instrumental number." Rohit Vats for Hindustan Times gave the album 3 out of 5 stars stated, "Farah Khan looks more concerned about the feel of her film than the quality of the songs, and it prompts her to go with trendy tunes. Overall, the album is average and is only youth oriented. Acquiring longevity will be difficult for this album." For India.com, Prathamesh Jadhav wrote, "It's a mixed bag!" On the contrary critic Surabhi Redkar for Koimoi felt, "Happy New Year album is not as extravagant as the film looks. With an expectation of a Bollywood musical soundtrack, it comes down to a regular album of Vishal-Shekhar. Even though the album will be a hit with tracks such as Manwa Laage and Kamlee, it will not enjoy much longevity."
Box office
Worldwide, the film grossed INR397 billion (US$95 million), making it one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.
India
Happy New Year set a record by collecting INR44.97
crore, making it the first Bollywood film to reach the figure in a single day. The film witnessed a drop on Saturday when it earned INR285 million nett and collections on Sunday were in the same range, taking the opening weekend to a record INR970 million nett. The film grossed around INR1.75 billion in its first weekend worldwide, the second highest opening for a Hindi film after Dhoom 3.
The film grossed around INR122.5 million nett on its first Monday to take its total to INR1.09 billion in four days. It earned INR110 million nett on its first Tuesday as the film had a decent hold from Monday in a few circuits, taking its total to a huge INR1.20 billion nett in five days. Happy New Year grossed a huge INR1.34 billion nett in its first week. The film had a strong weekend and its all India collections were good on Monday and Tuesday but it fell on Wednesday. The huge first week gave the film a massive distributor share of INR770 million approx. The film grossed INR2.45 billion worldwide in its first week which was the fourth highest total ever behind Dhoom 3, Kick and Chennai Express. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the film grossed INR11 million nett and INR26 million nett respectively in first week.
Happy New Year had good collections on second Friday of around INR45 million nett. The film showed huge growth on its second Saturday and Sunday to gross around INR67.5 million nett and INR92.5 million nett respectively. Happy New Year grossed around INR202.5 million in second weekend to take its ten-day total to INR1.54 billion nett. The film grossed around INR30 million nett on second Monday, INR40 million nett on second Tuesday and INR27.5 million nett on second Wednesday. Happy New Year grossed around INR353.8 million nett in its second week to take its total to INR1.685 billion nett. It grossed around INR45 million nett over its third weekend to take its total to INR1.73 billion nett. Happy New Year grossed around INR77.5 million nett in week three taking its total to a little over INR1.76 billion nett.
Happy New Year grossed INR15.6 million nett in week four and INR3.4 million nett in week five taking its final total to INR1.83 billion nett. Box Office India declared Happy New Year a "Super Hit". Its final domestic gross was INR295 crore (US$48 million).
Overseas
Happy New Year recorded the second highest overseas opening weekend of all time with figures of US$8.1 million (INR498 million). The film had an all-time record opening in the Gulf, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Germany. In the opening weekend, the film grossed US$2.9 million (INR178 million) in the Gulf, $2 million (INR123 million) in US/Canada, £570,000 (INR56 million) in United Kingdom, A$380,000 (INR20.5 million) in Australia, and PKR 62 million (US$600,000, INR 37 million) in Pakistan. Happy New Year took the all-time best ever opening for a Hindi film in Germany as it grossed $94,000 on its first day of release. Dhoom 3 had grossed $86,000 over the weekend and My Name Is Khan was $98,000 over the weekend.
At the end of its theatrical run overseas, the film earned US$16.71 million (INR102 crore) in overseas markets. It is one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever in overseas markets.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics in India and overseas. It holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews. While the performances of the lead cast, particularly Bachchan and the humor content received praise, the lack of character development and the 'unoriginal' plot received criticism.
Domestic
Saurabh Gupta of Indian Express rated the film 2 out of 5 stars calling it a "Mera Bharat Mahan sentiments" type movie, and a cross between an Ocean's 11/12 and "Flashdance". Rediff rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, and said "the film plays out like a spoof from the get go, a gigantic lark where nothing is taken seriously". NDTV also rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and said that irrespective of earnings at the box office, it "has nothing new to offer". Mihir Fadnavis of First Post said that, "the movie looks and feels like a home video project that was intended for appreciation by precisely two people in the entire universe - Farah and Shah Rukh Khan" and appears to be "Ocean's 11 rewritten by baboons". Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars taking on originality, said that "Originality? What's that, ask Farah Khan in Happy New Year".
International
Shilpa Jamkhandikar of Reuters said that the film has liberally borrowed from Hollywood heist films, in particular from Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven. "The first half is lighter and genuinely funny at times, but as the second half wears on, the proceedings become monotonous". Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed film as, "an ambitious musical, a love story and an Ocean's 11-style crime caper". Sami Qahar of the Dawn gave the film 2.5 out 5 stars and said the film is "Ocean's Eleven plus Italian Job plus Step Up all in one...on cheap shape-deteriorating steroids."
Awards and nominations
Sequel
Actors Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan hinted there might be a possible sequel of this film.
Controversy
Bollywood film choreographer Saroj Khan reportedly got upset after being spoofed in the movie. Farah Khan denied having spoofed Saroj Khan. Farah had earlier allegedly spoofed Manoj Kumar in her 2007 film Om Shanti Om.
Jaya Bachchan described Happy New Year as a "nonsensical film" and she said, "I only watched it because Abhishek is in it. I told him that he is a great actor if he can act stupid in front of the camera like that."
Notes
References
External links
- Official website
- Happy New Year on IMDb
- Happy New Year at Rotten Tomatoes
Source of the article : Wikipedia