When a clash of ideologies leads to a cute love story

Every time there is a special day, be it a festival, anniversary or birthday, there are people who go to town to celebrate it and others who don’t see the point in doing so. For the latter, the reasoning is that you don’t need an occasion and can celebrate every day. That's the exact ideology that Diganth’s character in filmmaker Pannaga Bharana’s Happy New Year follows.But it all changes when he meets a young traveller in Bangkok, played by debutante Shrusti Patil, whose various quirks leave him a changed man.
“Among the five stories in this anthology, ours is probably the only one that doesn’t have a social message. It is a cute love story,” says Diganth, adding, “Even though my character abhors the idea of celebrating something like New Year’s Eve just because everyone else is doing it, he decides to go on a quick getaway when it begins to look like he will have to work through the festive season. In Pattaya, he chances upon this girl, whose outlook towards life is very different. She also has certain quirks, like, for instance, a deep belief in certain superstitions, that he finds cute. As their relationship progresses, my character also undergoes certain changes.”
A new filmi kid on the block, Shrusti, for whom this film is a home production, could have chosen to make her debut with a regular commercial flick that gave her more screen time than she has in this one. “Having grown up in filmi circles, I realized that content is king and that is all I looked for in choosing my debut vehicle. When Pannaga narrated the stories of Happy New Year, the character of the traveller struck me, because I could relate to her on a very personal level. Travelling is not only about seeing new places, it is also about meeting new people, learning about new cultures and getting a complete feel of the place,” says Shrusti.