Director Ritesh Rana: Happy Birthday will be a refreshing experience for audiences

Writer, director Ritesh Rana, who made an impressive debut with the critically acclaimed crime thriller Mathu Vadalara that was made on a shoestring budget, is now coming up with a surreal comedy, Happy Birthday, that releases on July 8. Lavanya Tripathi headlines the film that also stars Naresh Agastya, Vennela Kishore, Sathya and Gundu Sudarshan in key roles. Ahead of the film's release, Ritesh interacted with the media and shared his off-screen experiences while making Happy Birthday.

Why and how did he plan to make a surreal comedy? "Guns aren't accessible to everyone in this country and it's a big deal to acquire it. We wanted to create a fake world that has no connection with our reality. No Telugu film has been made in this space before. It'll definitely be a refreshing experience for audiences. While the world around the characters will be surreal, the storytelling will be logical," he responded.

Happy Birthday will unfold in a non-linear format across multiple chapters and one can find parallels with Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Ritesh says. "We used a whole variety of guns in the film of different colours. We used every possible gun that was available on rent. Like Rythu Bazaar in our city, we've planned a gun bazaar in the film across every city where acquiring a gun is as easy as buying a mobile," he added.

The decision to cast Lavanya Tripathi in the film was taken after he saw her in a television show. "Given that the character was new and she was jovial in real life, the script suited her to perfection. While she headlines the film, other roles have equal importance too. The film is titled Happy Birthday because her character's name is Happy and she is celebrating her birthday," Ritesh stated. 

Reportedly, the filmmaker has tried to portray different styles of comedy across the seven chapters in the film - visual comedy, satire, and parody, to name a few. While Ritesh admits that handling multiple characters can be a challenge on a set and even on a scripting level, he took enough care to ensure that the screenplay was seamless in Happy Birthday.

Talking of his interest to explore unchartered territories, Ritesh shared, "I made Mathu Vadalara on a limited budget, more like an entry card into the industry and to prove myself. The film worked well commercially and I always enjoy writing unconventional stories. Happy Birthday has a very unique plot and the producers immediately said yes. This is by all means, still a commercial film - it has guns, fights and songs. There's a twist with the treatment though."

Ritesh has readied two stories already and he promises that they would be as wacky as Mathu Vadalara and Happy Birthday. "I am not sure about what would go on sets earlier," he signed off.

Happy Birthday, produced by Mythri Movie Makers and Clap Entertainments, hits theatres on July 8.