# Happy New Year (2014 film)

Happy New Year (sometimes abbreviated as HNY) is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language heist comedy thriller film directed by Farah Khan and produced by Gauri Khan under Red Chillies Entertainment. The film features an ensemble cast of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah and Jackie Shroff. The film was planned in 2005 but it was shelved for some reason and Farah Khan went on to make Om Shanti Om (2007), and Tees Maar Khan (2010). The film was distributed worldwide by Yash Raj Films. In the film, Charlie assembles a team of non-dancers to take part in a dance competition at a hotel in Dubai in a quest to pull off a diamond heist.
Made on a total budget of ₹140 crore (US$22.94 million), the film marked the third collaboration of the actor, producer and director; they previously worked on Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007), the latter of which also featured Deepika Padukone as the female lead in her debut.
Happy New Year was released on Diwali 2014 in Dubai and India, with dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu languages. The film gained around 4,200 screens in Hindi and 800 screens in Tamil & Telugu and released on Christmas 2015 in France and United Kingdom, with dubbed version in French, English and Arabic, that was the biggest film release in India. It received mixed reviews from critics with praise for its acting, soundtrack, humor, cinematography, production design and VFX, but criticized its 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 ₹342 crore (US$56.04 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.

## Plot

Chandramohan "Charlie" Manohar Sharma is a smalltime street boxer who has spent eight years plotting revenge on Charan Grover, who was responsible for Charlie's father Manohar being convicted and imprisoned as a thief. Charlie learns that some diamonds owned by Grover will be moved on Christmas Eve to the most secure safe in the world, Shalimar in Dubai. He finds out that Shalimar is located beneath the Atlantis Hotel, which is hosting the World Dance Contest. The night the diamonds come, 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 Vicky. Jag and Tammy also resent Grover, as they both were close to and worked with Manohar to build Shalimar. Charlie reveals to Nandu that 8 years ago, Grover, who at the time was an African Diamonds Dealer, had hired Manohar to build the most secure safe in the world to keep some diamonds in. Later, as the project had been completed, Grover drugged Manohar and stole his own diamonds framing Manohar for the theft, who was then sent to prison for 12 years.
The group enlists the help of Mohini, a bar dancer, in order to represent Team India in the contest. With the help of Rohan's hacking, the team qualifies and travels to Dubai. After a party for all the participants in the World Dance Championship the gang excluding Mohini goes over the plan to rob the diamonds after the semis and camouflage the diamonds with Charile's drink. During a rehearsal Charlie sees Team Koreas leader bully the youngest member and sticks up for him which results in a brawl between the two .However Charlie almost falls off the building but manages to get himself up and Team Korea's leader almost falls but Charlie manages to save him. During the semis Team India and Team Korea are going against each other but the youngest member on Team Korea loses his balance while doing an act, and as he is falling Charlie runs to rescue him successfully. After the dance is done the plan commences where Jag and Nandu go to the lift to trap Vicky but they find out that the diamonds will be coming on New Years Eve instead of Christmas. The gang is now frustrated and demoralized that they won't get their revenge on Grover since they will most likely get eliminated. When the judges announce the teams that are advancing they decided last minute to add Team India as an extra team that will compete in the finals due to Charlie's selfless act from earlier. They advance to the finals, but Charlie inadvertently reveals the heist plan to Mohini. Charlie explains his reasons, revealing that Manohar had in fact committed suicide in prison. Mohini joins the plan, and the group successfully steals the diamonds on the night of the finals.
As the group prepares to flee by boat, Rohan tells them that Mohini has refused to join them, planning instead to dance in the finals for India. 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 joins Mohini, convincing Grover's associates and the police that he stole his own diamonds, which were contracted to be sold after WDC. Team India wins the Championship. As they encounter Grover and Vicky being led away in handcuffs, Charlie reveals himself to Grover as Manohar's son and gives him the same razor blade Manohar used to commit suicide in prison.
The story ends with the entire team becoming successful and Charlie proposing to Mohini. During the credits, they host their informal dance competition.

## Cast

* Shah Rukh Khan as Chandramohan "Charlie" Manohar Sharma, Manohar's son, Tammy, Jag, Rohan and Nandu's friend, Mohini's love interest.
* Deepika Padukone as Mohini Joshi, Charlie's love interest, Nandu's childhood friend and the founder of Mohini Dance School
* Abhishek Bachchan in a dual role as
** Nandan "Nandu" Bhide, Mohini's childhood 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 honest 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

## Production
### 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

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. When he declined the offer, Prithviraj Sukumaran was approached for the role. But he too declined the offer due to busy schedules and later 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.

## Marketing

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).

## Music

The music of Happy New Year is composed by the duo of Vishal–Shekhar while the lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil; John Stewart Eduri composed the background score. The full soundtrack was launched on 24 September 2014 at an highly advertised event held in Film City, Mumbai, which was also streamed live on the production company's official YouTube channel. Prior to that, promotional music videos were released for "Indiawaale" on 3 September and "Manwa Laage" on 10 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
### 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 ₹ 240 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. 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."

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Song of The Year | "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Male Vocalist of The Year | Arijit Singh – "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Female Vocalist of The Year | Shreya Ghoshal – "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Music Composer of The Year | Vishal–Shekhar – "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Lyricist of The Year | Irshad Kamil – "Manwa Laage" | Won |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Best Song Producer (Programming & Arranging) | Jackie V – "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| 7th Mirchi Music Awards | Best Song Engineer (Recording & Mixing) | Satchith Harve & Praveen Muralidhar – "Manwa Laage" | Won |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Abhishek Bachchan | Won |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Hall of Fame | Happy New Year | Won |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Shahrukh Khan | Nominated |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Deepika Padukone (also for Finding Fanny) | Nominated |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Shreya Ghoshal for "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Choreography | Geeta Kapoor and Farah Khan for "Lovely" | Nominated |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Special Effects | Keitan Yadav, Haresh Hingorani and Red Chillies VFX | Nominated |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | Best Actor | Shahrukh Khan | Nominated |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | Best Actress | Deepika Padukone | Nominated |
| BIG Star Entertainment Awards | Most Entertaining Actor in a Comic Role | Abhishek Bachchan | Won |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Performance in a Comic Role | Abhishek Bachchan | Won |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Actor | Shahrukh Khan | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Actress | Deepika Padukone | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Marketed Film | Happy New Year | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Special Effects | Red Chillies VFX | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Soundtrack | Vishal–Shekhar | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Kanika Kapoor for "Lovely" | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Song | "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Music Video | "Sharabi" | Nominated |
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards | Best Choreography | Geeta Kapoor, Farah Khan | Nominated |
| Filmfare Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Abhishek Bachchan | Nominated |
| Filmfare Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Shreya Ghoshal for "Manwa Laage" | Nominated |
| Stardust Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Kanika Kapoor for "Lovely" (Happy New Year) and "Baby Doll" (Ragini MMS 2) | Won |
| Stardust Awards | Best Film of the Year | Gauri Khan and Red Chillies Entertainment | Won |
| Stardust Awards | Dream Director | Farah Khan | Won |
| Stardust Awards | Star of the Year – Male | Shahrukh Khan | Won |
| Stardust Awards | Star of the Year – Female | Deepika Padukone (also for Finding Fanny) | Won |
| Stardust Awards | Best Actor in a Thriller or Action | Shahrukh Khan | Won |
| Stardust Awards | Best Music Director | Vishal–Shekhar | Nominated |
| Stardust Awards | Best Breakthrough Performance – Male | Vivaan Shah | Nominated |
| Stardust Awards | Best Actress in a Thriller or Action | Deepika Padukone | Nominated |
| Stardust Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood and Boman Irani | Nominated |

## Controversies
### Spoof on Saroj Khan

Film choreographer Saroj Khan reportedly got upset after being parodied in the film. The spoof character was played by Kiku Sharda. Farah Khan denied having spoofed Saroj Khan. Farah had earlier allegedly spoofed Manoj Kumar in her 2007 film Om Shanti Om.

### Controversial statement by Jaya Bachchan

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."