If you had watched the trailer of Happy Birthday to Me , you might begin the Kannada movie knowing the film’s central conflict, waiting for the main twist to unfold. However, director Rakesh Kadri cleverly doesn’t delay the inevitable; the film straightaway gives you a reason to be curious about it. Happy Birthday to Me is a trippy film about a birthday party gone wrong.
Puneeth (Sidhaartha Maadhyamika) invites his “friend” Adithi (Chaithra J Achar) home to celebrate his birthday. The party never takes off as mysterious circumstances lead to Adithi’s death. Can Puneeth find a way out of this precarious situation? There aren’t many Kannada films that explore the hilarious but uncertain world of ‘stoners’, and that makes Happy Birthday to Me a unique attempt.
Kadri adds a crime angle to his story by letting the dead body drive the film‘s narrative — a concept that was partly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, as revealed by the director in his pre-release interviews . Happy Birthday to Me is a film that consciously doesn’t take itself seriously. Hence, the film’s conclusion isn’t as important as what unfolds between the beginning and the climax.
The director somewhat surpasses this challenge to offer a moderately engaging and funny film anchored by dialogues and performances. The cast delivers a realistic performance, in sync with the film’s easy-going tone. Siddu Moolimani as Thirumalesh A.
K.A Trippy, Puneeth’s friend and flatmate, keeps you s.
