Telugu director Shekhar Kammula's sensational hit Happy Days has a Kannada version titled Jolly Days. Kannada director M D Sreedhar, a specialisist in remakes, has made Jolly Days a faithful copy of Happy Days. Even the actors and locations chosen bear a strong resemblance to the ones in Happy Days. The only difference is that Sreedhar shows the ragged student trying to commit suicide, something which was not there in the original.
So, is Jolly Days as successful as Happy Days? Well, yes. Sreedhar has been able to recreate the magic of Happy Days.It can be reiterated that he has perfected the art of directing remakes from which he has scored major successes in his career.
Jolly Days is like eating a well prepared rasagolla if you have not seen the original. That said, the film is bound to make an impact even if you have seen the original. Sridhar's major success is the way he has got his actors to act in their debut film. Micky J Meyer's music, which made a strong impact in the original Telugu film, merges very well with the film. The tunes have been borrowed and even the background score matches the notes of Happy Days.
Jolly Days revolves around the lives of twelve college students who hail from different backgrounds. The love element has been well blended in the film.
New actors Niranjan, Sree Raghav, Vishwas, Poorvi, Ruthwa and Keerthi will certainly make a mark in the Kannada film industry. While Niranjan excels in Tarzan's role, Keerthi shows her mettle in a role that has negative shades. Aishwarya Nag, who has some prior experience, can count Jolly Days as one of her best films.
Krishna Kumar has done a perfect job behind the camera. B A Madhu's dialogues and Kaviraj's lyrics can be traced to original film, but still they have done a perfect job.
All in all, Jolly Days is worth watching.
Rediff Rating: 
