Happy Birthday To Me

Plot: Puneeth’s (Sidhaartha Madhyamika) birthday goes awry when his female friend Aditi (Chaithra Achar) is found dead in his apartment. Puneeth has to figure out the next move with his friend Thirumalesh aka Trippy (Siddu Moolimani), who is always high on alcohol and drugs.

Review: Puneeth (Sidhaartha Madhyamika) is elated to celebrate his birthday with his female friend Aditi (Chaithra Achar). He tricks his room mate Thirumalesh aka Trippy (Siddu Moolimani) into leaving the apartment. But the ‘happy ending’ story goes awry when Aditi is found dead in the apartment. Puneeth has to carefully navigate his ‘very serious’ girlfriend Seema (Rachana Rai), a nosy security guard, friendly neighbour (Archana Kottige), and the apartment owner (Gopalkrishna Deshpande), to move the body out of the apartment. Can he do it?

Happy Birthday To Me can be placed under the ‘stoner film’ category, which is a subgenre of comedy, based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot. The movie, set in an apartment with limited characters, is moderately engaging and funny and is completely anchored by dialogues and performances.

Written and directed by Rakesh Kadri, the maker has simply put a few quirky characters in a room and has let them be. He doesn’t unnecessarily add any extra layer to the story or the characters. The movie sure initially tests the patience with a repeated pattern, but that is just the director warming up the audience for a fun ride ahead. Since it is heavily dialogue-oriented, the movie also has lengthy, dull sequences here and there that fail to land well, especially the comedy sequences with the security guard. Leveraging on the advantages that OTT platforms offer in terms of creative freedom, Kadri has presented a film with utmost sincerity, with hopes to reach a larger audience.

The movie is aimed at the present generation and is built around their ‘chillax’ attitude. There is an overdose of cuss words used by the young gen Kannadigas, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Happy Birthday To Me is a simple, funny, no-brainer comedy to binge watch this weekend and is currently streaming on various online platforms.