Happy New Year Movie Review

Farah Khan made her debut 10 years ago with Main Hoon Na, which remains her most entertaining film to date. She followed it up with Om Shanti Om and Tees Maar Khan, the former was one of the biggest blockbusters of 2007, the latter, tanked after a good start. This year, she returns with her favourite on-screen hero Shahrukh Khan in a film that blends action, comedy, romance, revenge and patriotism in what promises to be an out-an-out entertainer. Does Farah’s much-awaited film Happy New Year live upto expectations? Read on..

Story: The story of Happy New Year reminds you of quite a few big films in recent times. Dhoom 3, Kick and Bang Bang all had a similar storyline. The film is about Charlie aka Chandramohan Manohar (Shahrukh Khan), who forms a team of weirdos to pull off the biggest robbery in the world. To do so, they have to take part in the World Dance Championship which takes place in Dubai. His partners in crime are ace-puker Nandu Bhide (Abhishek Bachchan), Parsi-stud Tammy (Boman Irani), bar-dancer Mohini (Deepika Padukone), geeky-hacker Rohan (Vivaan Shah) and powerful-but-half-deaf Jag (Sonu Sood). The best part? All of them, except Mohini, are bad dancers. Charlie’s mission is to rob 300-crore worth of diamonds to avenge the death of his father (Anupam Kher). Do they succeed? Watch Happy New Year to find out!

Happy New Year Review
Happy New Year Review

Review: Happy New Year starts off well, the first half is breezy and super entertaining. Farah takes her time introducing all the characters in the film. As expected, Shahrukh Khan gets the best intro, but the intro-scenes of Vivaan Shah and Boman Irani are hilarious. Deepika makes an entry more than 50 minutes into the film with the ‘Lovely’ song. The scenes in between where the 4 male characters learn dancing will have you in splits.

As the film progresses, the pace dips, especially the first 30 minutes of the second half. At first, the patriotic angle will seem like it was forced into the narrative, but towards the end of the film you do feel proud to be an Indian. A few scenes in the film do make you cringe – SRK’s action scene with the Korean, saving the child during the dance competition and all the melodrama in the climax – could have been toned down a wee bit.

You can’t except to find sense or logic in a film like Happy New Year, but it does have a solid revenge storyline, which is narrated in a way that will entertain the audience for its entire length of 3 hours. Happy New Year has very few romantic scenes, and those are very subtly done.

Watch out for these scenes in the film:

  • Introduction scene of all the characters.
  • HNY has several special appearances – Prabhu Deva (SRK was keen on casting Hrithik for this scene), Vishal Dadlani, Anurag Kashyap and Dino Morea.
  • The best special appearance belongs to Kiku Sharda aka Palak in Comedy Nights with Kapil. That scene where he teaches dance is hilarious!
  • Deepika’s spoof on Shahrukh’s famous ‘sattar minute’ dialogue from Chak De India.
  • Almost every scene involving Nandu (Abhishek) and Tammy (Boman) are super entertaining.
  • The closing credits – don’t miss it! Quite a few surprises in store.

Happy New Year is not without its share of downsides. With a runtime of exactly 3 hours, the film does feel long. Ideally, the second half should have been much shorter. The dialogues tend to get vulgar at times – ‘Main zindagi bhar nahi letunga’ (I’ll never get laid in my life), ‘You’re simply breast-taking’, ‘Madar… chod na yaar’, ‘Babaji ka thullu’ (which was changed from Babaji Ka Ghanta by the censor board) just to name a few.  The music was hugely disappointing, as an audience you expect better from a Farah – SRK film. Only one song stands out – Manwa Laage. Choreography is average. Cinematography and production design outstanding!

Performances are top-notch. Khan is king isn’t he? SRK is one of those actors who makes a huge impact with his dialogue delivery, eyes and expressions. He does the same in Happy New Year. He also has his newly acquired 8-pack physique, which he flashes quite often in the film. A toned body also means a lean look, which doesn’t suit him in those action scenes, mainly because his face takes a beating. Deepika Padukone looks beautiful and acts well. She modulates her voice brilliantly, something that she also did terrifically well in Chennai Express. Boman Irani entertains like he always does. Sonu Sood is very good. But the star of the show is none other than Abhishek Bachchan. As Nandu Bhide he shines, in fact he outshines SRK in a couple of scenes, something that not many actors manage to do. Under-rated actor. Jackie Shroff has very little to do.

Overall, Happy New Year is a fun watch. It requires you to leave your brains back at home and enjoy what Farah throws at your in those 180 minutes in theatre. It has a bit of everything that you expect from a typical Bollywood entertainer and probably a little more. The music should have better a lot better and the runtime a little shorter, but Nandu Bhide more than makes up for it!

At the box office, Happy New Year has already taken a bumper opening all over. The film should work with every section of the audience and go on to one of the biggest blockbusters of 2014.

Rating: ★★★★☆ Go for it!

What we liked in Happy New Year

  • Performances by the entire star-cast
  • Farah Khan’s direction
  • Abhishek Bachchan, special mention!
  • Production Design
  • Closing credits and all those scenes that we mentioned above

What we disliked

  • All songs, except Manwa Laage
  • A few over-the-top scenes, which could have been  shorter / completely deleted to reduce the runtime.
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197 Comments

  • many srk fans r upset that y I hv called srk performance just decent and abhi as the best thing of the film.but thats my personal opinion ppl.I found srk excellent in don2 which was also about heist but when it comes to masala films srk is gf but not great.I like srks acting more in serious films

  • @tillu nebhani, you should not forget that he is 200 times better as an actor then your bhai, his performances recieve praise in almost every film and hny is no exception, he is not only gud but also praised for his performance, not like your bhai who take years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • All time Blockbuster Good Going SRK u also have to make streak of back to back hits like Salman Khan

  • The most funniest part in HNY review was the 4 stars given to it.Monday collections will clear everything.lol

  • @ indicine it was just a joke from me. if hny is a good movie then its good for us cuz if its bad movie then i feel worry about the time and money wasted by hny team and many mango peoples of india. i will sure watch hny as soon possible lekin asli indiawaala jodta hai todta nahi.

  • @Indicine.Ur review made my day. Now I can study with peace. Really the records ll follow. Coz u have seldom been wrong.
    @SRKIANS. Happy New year. Get on the fantabulous ride

  • chotu fans talking about stardom & bhai fans talking about ‘class’ & ‘content’ now .. & jadoo fans talking about ‘biasedness’ ..
    Too Much Funn !! ??

  • @babaji what about bang bang
    bb – leave ur brain at home.
    k3 – leave ur brain at home.
    d2 – leave ur brain at home.
    so don’t give us explanation.

  • Great review Indicine. Reports are positive all over. 300 crores is high possibility.
    @babaji ka thullu stop crying. Bang bang was utterly moronic film. Even if you left your brain at home still it wasnt possible to enjoy it. So people rejected it.

  • Srk played lead roles in jthj, don2 and ra1 nd all of them sumhow manage to collect only 100cr. He played 3rd lead in ce after rohit shetty nd deepika nd it collected more than 200cr. So its time for srk to giv up lead roles nd do sum PAPA/BHAIYA characters…

  • wow its such an entertaining movie .. i loved it with my hubby it made my day.. never liked srk before this movie:-)

  • Thanks Indicine for a neat review with no spoilers. Felt very happy to read that it is a great entertainer. Will post my review 2morrow.

    Haters, I am baffled to see some of your comments saying that u will watch the headache/disastrous movie just to review it. Even If I am a die hard SRk fan I would not do it, if I knew the movie is going to be a torture for sure. But u guys are rocking yaar…..

  • Sharman stole the show from Aamir in 3Idiots, Nawazuddin stole the show from Salman in Kick and now it’s Abhi’s showwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

  • Last time indicine gave CE 3 stars,,,reding the review it seems indicine gave HNY 3 stars again..so traditionaly it has to be a blockbuster or more..just like CE..

  • started reading review from top…thougt 2.5 stars waiting at the bottom of article….
    4 stars ??? from the reviews it doesnt seem to be a 4 stars movie ?? were u forced to give it @indicine

    well i dont care abt review when its salman/srk starrer movie :p ….tickets booked #yayySunday

  • i watched it in the morning show.
    to be honest – hny was over my expectations as i had doubt regarding farah khan but happy new year is a winner.
    a complete family entertainer.
    i just loved it.
    much nd more entertaining than chennai express..
    take a bow srk fans.
    congo.

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