Happy Birthday is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language surreal crime comedy film written and directed by Ritesh Rana, and produced by Mythri Movie Makers and Clap Entertainment. It stars Lavanya Tripathi in a dual role along with Naresh Agastya, Vennela Kishore, and Satya.
Happy Birthday | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Ritesh Rana |
Written by | Ritesh Rana |
Produced by | Chiranjeevi (Cherry) Hemalatha Pedamallu |
Starring | Lavanya Tripathi Naresh Agastya Vennela Kishore Satya |
Cinematography | Suresh Sarangam |
Edited by | Karthika Srinivas |
Music by | Kaala Bhairava |
Production companies | Mythri Movie Makers Clap Entertainment |
Distributed by | Mythri Movie Makers |
Release date |
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Country | India |
Language | Telugu |
Principal photography of the film took place between November 2021 and May 2022 in Hyderabad. The film has music composed by Kaala Bhairava. Happy Birthday was theatrically released on 8 July 2022 and received mixed reviews from critics and audiences.
Set in a fantasy world,[1] Union minister Rithwik Sodhi passes a new gun law in the parliament that liberalizes the manufacturing and sale of fire arms, leading to an increased gun culture in the country.[2]
Following his debut directorial venture Mathu Vadalara (2019), Ritesh Rana was signed for another film under the production of Mythri Movie Makers.[3] Actress Lavanya Tripathi was cast the lead in her first crime comedy film.[4] Naresh Agastya, Satya, Vennela Kishore and Gundu Sudarshan play other roles.[3] In the film, a union minister (Kishore) proposes a new gun law that aims to liberalize purchase, sale, manufacture and use of fire arms in the country which leads to increase in the gun culture in the country.[2] Tripathi plays a modern girl nicknamed Happy 340.[5]
The film began its production in Hyderabad in November 2021.[4] In December, the film was titled as Happy Birthday.[6] The shoot was completed by May 2022. Kaala Bhairava composed the film's music. The film has cinematography by Suresh Sarangam and editing by Karthika Srinivas.[7]
The music of the film is composed by Kaala Bhairava. Lyrics are written by Kittu Vissapragada. The first single was released on 4 July 2022.[8][9]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Party Song" | Kittu Vissapragada | Damini Bhatla | 3:55 |
Happy Birthday was released theatrically on 8 July 2022,[1] advanced by a week from its initial release date of 15 July 2022.[10]
Neeshitha Nyayapati of The Times Of India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Despite its flaws, Happy Birthday is refreshing and is exactly what TFI needs to shake things up. It might be far from perfect but Ritesh deserves an A+ for effort".[11] Arvind V of Pinkvilla rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The satirical tone of the film has a touch of intelligence.The film's genre, on the other hand, looks either superfluous or half-baked". [12] A critic for The Hans India rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Happy Birthday is a different attempt in the comedy genre. But, it fails to provide a cohesive narrative from the start to the end. It ends up boring and scratching our heads".[13]