It was the 2nd of October, 2007, the film 'Happy Days', directed by Sekhar Kammula was released.
Those were the days the film generated massive public interest for its breezy, youthful college story with a superhit soundtrack and an entirely new cast.
But that is not all. There were two daring steps that Sekhar Kammula took at the time.
Let us revisit that flashback.
Puri Jagannadh was the star director at the time, and he created a huge hype around his film Chirutha, the debut of Ram Charan, the hier of Mega Star.
To maintain the intrigue, Puri Jagannath didn't even show Ram Charan's face in the trailer. Amidst such massive buzz, Sekhar Kammula dared to release his film Happy Days simultaneously with that film in the USA, on 28 September 2007.
That itself was a risk. Adding to that, releasing the film one week in advance in the USA was an even bigger risk, as negative talk could have had a serious impact on the fate of the Indian release. But still, Sekhar Kammula dared to do it. That spoke volumes about his confidence in the product.
In fact, Happy Days received both critical acclaim and commercial success. It was a neat, decent, vulgarity-free youthful entertainer — something that has become quite rare these days.
Click Here For Happy Days Movie Review
Eighteen years later, we've seen the lasting impact 'Happy Days' had.
Actress Tamannaah, though she had worked in four films prior to Happy Days, gained real recognition only with Happy Days. Eventually, she rose to national fame and reached the peak of her career.
Nikhil Siddharth, one of the film’s leads, gained national recognition with Karthikeya. Varun Sandesh shone for a while as a youthful hero in Telugu cinema.
Vamshi Chaganti, thanks to the talent and recognition he gained from Happy Days, continued to maintain his presence in the industry. Mickey J Meyer, the music director, remains one of the most respected composers in Tollywood.
Above all, director Sekhar Kammula received widespread acclaim for his storytelling with even several films later and now returned with Kuberaa, his ambitious pan-India film in multiple languages. We have to see if he sees 'happy days' again with this film.
As a flash back moment, read here the GreatAndhra review of Happy Days, released 18 years ago on the same day, and which made history.
