5 stories in 1 film

When the Kannada film Happy New Year releases today, it will mark the end of a long wait for its director, Pannaga Bharana, who has been looking at making his debut for a while. Glad that his debut comes with a multi-starrer anthology, which he thinks will welcome a new genre of filmmaking and story writing into Kannada cinema, the director tells us why audiences should watch the “clean family entertainer”, produced by Soumya Films. “The biggest draw is that it offers audiences five different stories that transpire around the same time — close to New Year’s Eve. Each has a heartwarming love story at its core,” says Pannaga.
Five stories also mean that the film boasts a large ensemble cast, including BC Patil, Margarita, Sai Kumar, Sudharani, Rajshri Ponnappa,

Diganth

, Shrusti Patil, Vijay Raghavendra, Sonu Gowda, Dhananjaya and Sruthi Hariharan, among others. While the star cast is one of the biggest USPs of the film, audiences are also intrigued about what Pannaga will bring to the table, considering his family lineage. “Add to that music by Raghu Dixit and a visual extravaganza by cinematographer Shreesha Kudavalli, and audiences are in for a treat,” says the director, adding, “Normally, the comedy in films is a separate track that most often has no connect with the actual story line and seems forced. That is not the case with Happy New Year and the main cast is responsible for the laughs, which will be part of their narrative.”