Never Ending Movie Carnival
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Be Happy review: Left me worried!
What: ‘Be Happy’ - Dreams, Dance reality and a devastating tragedy all rolled into one film. But where is the creativity.
Be Happy movie review
Watching the last few films of Abhishek Bachchan made me think that essaying a disgruntled and discontented man comes so naturally to him. In Shoojit Sircars’s ‘I Want to Talk’, he played a disgruntled father battling a terminal disease. ‘Be Happy’, directed by Remo D'souza, also places him as Shiv Rastogi in a similar terrain. A widower whose bereavement manifests in cynicism and bitterness. It has reached a level where he is unable to recognize and realize the dreams of her only incredibly talented daughter, Dhara (Inayat Verma), who wants to make it to the Dance reality show.
Shiv, Dhara and her maternal gran’pa (addressed as taata, played by Nasser) make an unusual trio in their homestay-esque shelter cocooned in the verdant hills of Ooty where the girl pallies with the affable taata and formulate plans to coax and convince the rigid father.
Shiv gives in reluctantly, even learning to dance while accompanying Dhara in a dance academy run by Maggie (Nora Fatehi, singularly plastic expressions) who exhibits a special affinity for both father and daughter.
A disarming tragedy strikes the family, derailing their aspirations and the film’s narrative. The following minutes shape up as a forced blend of chasing dreams, fulfilling dreams and going an extra length for them while drowning the film into a pool of mawkish sentimentality.
Remo is a wonderful choreographer, but diluting dance with direction robs the films off its prospects especially when it comes to evoking emotions. ‘Be Happy’ falters with poor writing and execution. Each sentiment is underlined. Each emotion appears strained while subtlety is on vacation.
Naturally, the able actors sink under the heavy-handed treatment and broad strokes of their character arcs. Clearly in lack of depth and soul, the plot doesn’t do justice to either Abhishek or Nasser who try hard to uplift themselves with earnest performances from the written material.
To acknowledge the plus points, Inayat renders a confident performance living up to the incredibly super-smart vibes of her character. The dance rehearsals remind you of Remo’s previous flick ABCD 2. Harleen Sethi reminds you of Tina from ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Remo’s references to the ‘letters to Mom’ is a clear indicator of the death of creativity.
Picking the lyrics from Amitabh’s song from Toofan (1989), “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, the film left me rather worried. I redeemed a bit of my worries with the interesting rolling of the end credits.
I go with 2 stars out of 5 for ‘Be Happy’. The film, produced under Remo Dsouza Entertainment by Lizelle Dsouza, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 14th March 2025.
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee