2014 Film Happy New Year

The film features an ensemble cast of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah and Jackie Shroff. It was distributed worldwide by Yash Raj Films. In the film, a bunch of losers transform themselves into a team that wins over the hearts of the people in the city and across the world, all as part of their quest to pull off the biggest diamond heist ever seen.

Happy New Year
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Farah Khan
Written by	Screenplay: Farah Khan Althea Kaushal Dialogues: Mayur Puri
Story by	Farah Khan
Produced by	Gauri Khan
Starring	Deepika Padukone Shah Rukh Khan Abhishek Bachchan Sonu Sood Boman Irani Vivaan Shah Jackie Shroff
Cinematography	Manush Nandan
Edited by	Anand Subaya Tushar Parekh
Music by	Songs: Vishal–Shekhar Guest Composition: Dr. Zeus RDB Background Score: John Stewart Eduri
Production company	Red Chillies Entertainment
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films
Release dates	23 October 2014 (2014-10-23) (Dubai) 24 October 2014 (2014-10-24) (India)
Running time	178 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹150 crore
Box office	₹394 crore

Made on a total budget of ₹150 crore (US$24.58 million), the film marked the third collaboration of the lead actor, producer and director; they previously worked on Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007), the latter of which also featured Padukone as the female lead.

Happy New Year was released on Diwali 2014 with dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu, and gained around 4,200 screens in Hindi and 800 screens in Tamil and Telugu, that was the biggest film release in India up until then. It received mixed reviews from critics, who appreciated the cast performances especially Khan and Bachchan's, soundtrack, humor, cinematography, action sequences, production design and visual effects, but criticized the writing, length and pace. It grossed ₹44.97 crore (US$7.37 million) in India on its opening day which was the record for the highest domestic opening for an indian film at that time and eventually grossing a total of ₹394 crore (US$64.56 million) worldwide.

At the 60th Filmfare Awards, Happy New Year received 2 nominations – Best Supporting Actor (Bachchan) and Best Female Playback Singer (Shreya Ghoshal for "Manwa Laage"). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences features the film's script in their library.

Chandramohan "Charlie" Sharma is a street fighter who has spent eight years plotting revenge on Charan Grover, the owner of Shalimar Securities, who was responsible for Charlie's father Manohar being convicted and imprisoned as a thief. Learning that diamonds worth $50 million will be moved to one of Shalimar's vaults beneath the Atlantis Hotel, Dubai on Christmas Eve, Charlie plans to steal the diamonds and frame Grover. He assembles a team that includes hard-of-hearing strongman and explosives expert Jagmohan "Jag" Prakash, seizure-prone safecracker Tehamton "Tammy" Irani, Jag's nephew and master hacker Rohan Singh, and Nandu Bhide, who looks identical to Grover's son Vikky. Jag and Tammy also resent Grover, who hired their father figure Manohar to build the impenetrable vault Shalimar, then stole his own diamonds and framed Manohar in an insurance fraud scheme.

The key to Charlie's plan is to enter room 9C at the hotel, which is connected to the vault by an abandoned duct and sewer system. Since room 9C is reserved for teams participating in the World Dance Championship (WDC), the group must become a world-class dance team on top of their heist preparations. After the group fails to learn from several dance instructors, Nandu introduces Charlie to Mohini, a Marathi bar dancer who is impressed by Charlie's fluency in English. Mohini agrees to teach the group to dance without knowing their true intentions, and grows close to Charlie.

The team passes the first round of the dance competition by blackmailing the judges. They dance to a poor reception in the India final, but Rohan hacks the voting system and puts them in first place. Their reception is even more hostile in Dubai, especially from Team North Korea, the defending champions who are sponsored by Grover. The semifinals pit teams against each other dancing on the same stage. During the match between Team India and Team Korea, Charlie breaks the dance formation to save a Korean team member from a dangerous stunt, gaining the audience's admiration. Team India become unexpected fan favorites.

The team is upset to learn that the diamonds will arrive on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas, scuttling their plan to get eliminated in the first round. However, Team India's newfound fame spurs the judges to move them to the finals as a wild card. Before New Year's Eve, Mohini is outraged to learn that the team only entered the dance competition to steal the diamonds. Charlie tells her the full story, revealing that Manohar died in prison after Grover ruined his chances to appeal. Moved by the others' determination, Mohini agrees to join the heist.

On the night of the final round, Mohini lures Vikky into an elevator, where Jag and Nandu knock him out and use plaster to recreate his thumbprint. Nandu disguises himself as Vikky and unlocks the chamber containing the safe. Meanwhile, Charlie and Tammy sneak into the safe room through the ducts from room 9C, and Tammy cracks the safe. The diamonds are unexpectedly locked in a smaller, unbreakable safe, but Charlie realizes it was made by Manohar, and unlocks it using his own name as the master password. Charlie and Tammy escape by filling the safe with water and opening a hatch at the top.

As the group prepares to flee by boat with the diamonds, Rohan tells them that Mohini has refused to join them, planning instead to dance in the finals. The group fights about whether to join her. When the diamonds are found missing and Team India fails to appear onstage, Grover accuses them of being the thieves; however, the entire group appears to dance with Mohini, convincing Grover's associates and the police that he stole his own diamonds. Team India wins the competition. As they encounter Grover and Vikky being led away in handcuffs, Charlie gives Grover the same razor blade Manohar used to commit suicide in prison.

At the airport, Charlie apparently disguises the diamonds as ice cubes in a drink, which he loses when a security agent forces him to throw it away. The group is dejected until Charlie reveals that he switched the diamonds for the identical replicas on the dance competition trophy. In the aftermath, Jag becomes a film director, Tammy reclaims his status as the neighborhood ladies' man, Rohan finally becomes popular with girls, and Nandu gets thrown out of a bank for attempting to cash a giant novelty check. Mohini fulfills her dream of opening a dance school, where Charlie proposes marriage to her with one of the stolen diamonds.

Over the end credits, the film's production crew dance in a competition of their own, judged by director Farah Khan.

• Deepika Padukone as Mohini Joshi, Charlie's love interest and Nandu's distant relative and the founder of Mohini Dance School
• Shah Rukh Khan as Chandramohan "Charlie" Manohar Sharma, Manohar's son, Tammy, Jag, Rohan and Nandu's friend, Mohini's love interest.
• Abhishek Bachchan in a dual role as
  • Nandu Bhide, Charlie's close friend
  • Vicky Grover, Charan's son
• Sonu Sood as Captain Jagmohan "Jag" Prakash, Manohar and Charlie's close friend
• Boman Irani as Temthon "Tammy" Irani, Manohar and Charlie's close friend and Namita's son
• Vivaan Shah as Rohan Singh, Jag's nephew and Charlie's close friend
• Jackie Shroff as Charan Grover, Vicky's father and owner of Shalimar Securities who cheated Manohar and owns his company
• Jason Tham as Huyi Chuk, a Team Korea leader
• Mohan Kapur as Mr. Kapoor, Charan's assistant
• Varun Pruthi as Sartaj Gill, Charan's assistant
• Kavi Shastri as Mr. Suryakant Gupta
• Rio Kapadia as an unnamed owner of diamonds

Extended cameo appearances

• Sarah-Jane Dias as Laila: India's ambassador at WDC
• Daisy Irani as Namita Irani, Tammy's mother

Cameo appearances

• Anupam Kher as Manohar Sharma, Charlie's father and an intelligent businessman
• Dino Morea as himself, a host of World Dance Championship
• Kiku Sharda as a fake Saroj Khan
• Prabhu Deva as himself, a dance instructor
• Malaika Arora as Manolika Jhawar, a heroine of a film titled Ha Haa He Hee
• Vishal Malhotra as himself, a host of World Dance Championship auditions
• Anurag Kashyap as himself, a selection Judge of World Dance Championship auditions
• Vishal Dadlani as himself, a selection Judge of World Dance Championship auditions
• Sajid Khan as himself, a director of a film titled Ha Haa He Hee
• Geeta Kapoor as herself, a judge of World Dance Championship
• Abram Khan as himself, during the end credits

Development

Plans for the film began as far back as 2005 with an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Ameesha Patel, Priyanka Chopra, Raveena Tandon and Zayed Khan. The film was shelved for unknown reasons and instead, Farah Khan made Om Shanti Om (2007), which featured Khan and Padukone. After her film Tees Maar Khan (2010), Farah began to consider the possibilities of the film and screenwriting was completed by October 2012.

Casting

 

 

Priyanka Chopra (top) was cast as the main female lead but was subsequently replaced by Deepika Padukone (bottom) due to creative differences.

In December 2012, media reported that the makers had approached Priyanka Chopra for the role, who was their first choice for the film after the script was revamped. However, Chopra turned down the film due to dates issue; the schedule was clashing with another film she had signed. Several actresses were considered for the role, such as Sonakshi Sinha, Asin, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Parineeti Chopra and Katrina Kaif, however, Padukone was finalized, making it her third film opposite Khan following Om Shanti Om and Chennai Express (2013). Khan was reported to be playing the role of a con artist in the film which had Deepika in the role of a Marathi dancer. At a point, John Abraham was to play one of the supporting roles but Sonu Sood replaced him. Boman Irani was confirmed by the director during an interview. In August 2013, Jackie Shroff was finalised to play the film's antagonist. The director's brother, Sajid Khan, would be making a guest appearance while actress Malaika Arora Khan was also signed to appear in a cameo. Vivaan Shah was reported to play the role of a computer hacker. Actor-director Prabhu Deva performed a dance in a cameo.

Filming

Farah made the official announcement on Twitter. The first schedule of filming started in Dubai in early November 2013. Arabian Business reported that a major portion of the film will be shot in the prestigious Atlantis, The Palm.

On 23 January 2014, Shah Rukh Khan was injured while shooting at JW Marriott Hotel, Mumbai. Though reported as minor at first, he suffered a fractured shoulder and a torn left knee patella, being advised rest for a while.

Mehboob Studios was used as one of the major locations while certain portions were also filmed near the Wilson College. The final schedule was completed in August 2014.

Costume designs

Farah Khan wanted Shah Rukh Khan to grow his hair long so that he could sport shoulder length tresses.

For promotion, digitally personalized posters written in cast members' handwriting were made available to social media users. The team of Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah went to the set of the famous Indian television show Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma (TMKOC) for the promotion of their movie.

The film's cast and crew, along with rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh and actress Madhuri Dixit travelled on a promotional tour titled "SLAM!". Starting from 19 September in Houston, it took place in New Jersey, Washington, Toronto, Chicago, Vancouver and San Jose. "SLAM!" also continued to United Kingdom on 5 October.

On 13 October 2014, an official game based on the film, titled Happy New Year-The Game was released for Android and iOS. It was made in collaboration with the production company and Gameshastra India, an Indian game art outsourcing studio.

Distribution rights

The worldwide distribution rights were sold to Yash Raj Films for ₹1.25 billion (US$20.48 million), the satellite rights were sold to Zee Network for ₹650 million (US$10.65 million) and the music rights to T-Series for ₹120 million (US$1.97 million), earning a total pre-release revenue of ₹2.02 billion (US$33.1 million).

The music of Happy New Year is composed by the duo of Vishal–Shekhar while the lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil. The full soundtrack was launched on 1 October 2014. Prior to that, promotional music videos were released for "Indiawaale" on 21 September and "Manwa Laage" on 25 September respectively. After the album was launched, promotional videos of the songs "Lovely", "Nonsense Ki Night" and "Satakli" were also released. "India Waale" is featured in Just Dance Now, Just Dance 2015 (as downloadable content) and is part of the Just Dance Unlimited service.

Reception

The soundtrack received mostly positive reviews from music critics.

Kasmin Fernandes at The Times of India felt, "As a heist film centred around a dance competition, Happy New Year provides plenty of fodder for composers Vishal and Shekhar and lyricist Irshad Kamil to showcase their way with sounds. And they've delivered, with seven original tracks, one electronic version, a variation, a medley and an instrumental number." Rohit Vats for Hindustan Times gave the album 3 out of 5 stars stated, "Farah Khan looks more concerned about the feel of her film than the quality of the songs, and it prompts her to go with trendy tunes. Overall, the album is average and is only youth oriented. Acquiring longevity will be difficult for this album." For India.com, Prathamesh Jadhav wrote, "It's a mixed bag!" On the contrary critic Surabhi Redkar for Koimoi felt, "The Happy New Year album is not as extravagant as the film looks. With an expectation of a Bollywood musical soundtrack, it comes down to a regular album of Vishal-Shekhar. Even though the album will be a hit with tracks such as 'Manwa Laage' and 'Kamli', it will not enjoy much longevity."

Box Office

Worldwide, the film grossed ₹394 crore (US$64.56 million), making it one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

India

Happy New Year set a record by collecting ₹44.99 crore, making it the first Bollywood film to reach the figure in a single day. The record was broken by the 2018 Diwali release Thugs of Hindostan starring Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh which collected 52.25 crore on Day 1. The film witnessed a drop on Saturday when it earned ₹285 million nett and collections on Sunday were in the same range, taking the opening weekend to a record ₹970 million nett. The film grossed around ₹1.75 billion in its first weekend worldwide, the second highest opening for a Hindi film after Dhoom 3.

The film grossed around ₹122.5 million nett on its first Monday to take its total to ₹1.09 billion in four days. It earned ₹110 million nett on its first Tuesday as the film had a decent hold from Monday in a few circuits, taking its total to a huge ₹1.20 billion nett in five days. Happy New Year grossed a huge ₹1.34 billion nett in its first week. The film had a strong weekend and its all India collections were good on Monday and Tuesday but it fell on Wednesday. The huge first week gave the film a massive distributor share of ₹770 million approx. The film grossed ₹2.45 billion worldwide in its first week which was the fourth highest total ever behind Dhoom 3, Kick and Chennai Express. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the film grossed ₹11 million nett and ₹26 million nett respectively in first week.

Happy New Year had good collections on second Friday of around ₹45 million nett. The film showed huge growth on its second Saturday and Sunday to gross around ₹67.5 million nett and ₹92.5 million nett respectively. Happy New Year grossed around ₹202.5 million in second weekend to take its ten-day total to ₹1.54 billion nett. The film grossed around ₹30 million nett on second Monday, ₹40 million nett on second Tuesday and ₹27.5 million nett on second Wednesday. Happy New Year grossed around ₹353.8 million nett in its second week to take its total to ₹1.685 billion nett. It grossed around ₹45 million nett over its third weekend to take its total to ₹1.73 billion nett. Happy New Year grossed around ₹77.5 million nett in week three taking its total to a little over ₹1.76 billion nett.

Happy New Year grossed ₹15.6 million nett in week four and ₹3.4 million nett in week five taking its final total to ₹1.83 billion nett. Box Office India declared Happy New Year a "Super Hit". Its final domestic gross was ₹295 crore (US$48 million).

Overseas

Happy New Year recorded the second highest overseas opening weekend of all time with figures of US$8.1 million (₹498 million). The film had an all-time record opening in the Gulf, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Germany.^{[citation needed]} In the opening weekend, the film grossed US$2.9 million (₹178 million) in the Gulf, $2 million (₹123 million) in US/Canada, £570,000 (₹56 million) in United Kingdom, A$380,000 (₹20.5 million) in Australia, and PKR 62 million (US$600,000, INR 37 million) in Pakistan. Happy New Year took the all-time best ever opening for a Hindi film in Germany as it grossed $94,000 on its first day of release. Dhoom 3 had grossed $86,000 over the weekend and My Name Is Khan was $98,000 over the weekend.

At the end of its theatrical run overseas, the film earned US$16.71 million (₹102 crore) in overseas markets. It is one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever in overseas markets.

The film released in China on 12 February 2015. It went on to gross $500,000 (₹3.21 crore) at the Chinese box office.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics in India and overseas. It holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews. While the performances of the lead cast, and the humor content received praise, the lack of character development and the 'unoriginal' plot received criticism.

Domestic

Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 2.5 stars out of 5, commenting "You'll find yourself chuckling and cringing alternately while watching Happy New Year, in which director Farah Khan skillfully sets up a heist plot against an international dance competition scenario. Its a curious premise, and Farah brings many of the same elements that she applied to good use in Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om, namely lots of self-referencing, affectionate nods to 70s Bollywood, and the ability to occasionally laugh at oneself." Anupama Chopra gave 2 out of 5 stars and said "It is frantic, noisy, gaudy and, largely, joyless. Farah takes the framework of the traditional heist movie and bungs in revenge, melodrama, comedy, romance, countless dazzling dance sequences and, as a climactic flourish, a dose of patriotism."

Saurabh Gupta of Indian Express rated the film 2 out of 5 stars calling it a "Mera Bharat Mahan sentiments" type movie, and a cross between an Ocean's 11/12 and "Flashdance". Rediff rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, and said "the film plays out like a spoof from the get go, a gigantic lark where nothing is taken seriously". NDTV also rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and said that irrespective of earnings at the box office, it "has nothing new to offer". Mihir Fadnavis of First Post said that, "the movie looks and feels like a home video project that was intended for appreciation by precisely two people in the entire universe – Farah and Shah Rukh Khan" and appears to be "Ocean's 11 rewritten by baboons". Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars taking on originality, said that "Originality? What's that, ask Farah Khan in Happy New Year".

International

Shilpa Jamkhandikar of Reuters said that the film has liberally borrowed from Hollywood heist films, in particular from Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven. "The first half is lighter and genuinely funny at times, but as the second half wears on, the proceedings become monotonous". Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed film as, "an ambitious musical, a love story and an Ocean's 11-style crime caper". Sami Qahar of the Dawn gave the film 2.5 out 5 stars and said the film is "Ocean's Eleven plus Italian Job plus Step Up all in one...on cheap shape-deteriorating steroids."

Bollywood film choreographer Saroj Khan reportedly got upset after being parodied in the film. Farah Khan denied having spoofed Saroj Khan. Farah had earlier allegedly spoofed Manoj Kumar in her 2007 film Om Shanti Om.

Jaya Bachchan described Happy New Year as a "nonsensical film" and she said, "I only watched it because Abhishek is in it. I told him that he is a great actor if he can act stupid in front of the camera like that."