Life Is Beautiful

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Life Is Beautiful is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language coming-of-age drama written and directed by Sekhar Kammula and produced by Sekhar and Chandrasekhar Kammula under Amigos Creations. It introduced five new actors in the leads: Abijeet, Sudhakar Komakula, Kaushik Darbha, Shagun Kaur and Zara Shah. Shriya Saran, Anjala Zaveri and Amala Akkineni play key supporting roles, and Vijay Deverakonda, Sree Vishnu and Naveen Polishetty also appear. It was released on 14 September 2012.

Story

Srinu and his sisters move to Hyderabad ahead of their widowed mother’s job transfer and settle into their relatives’ neighbourhood, B Phase. There they make new friends, among them a wealthy cousin, a studious college boy and an unemployed youth. B Phase is locked in a legal fight with Gold Phase, a richer neighbouring community that wants to take over a shared lake. The rivalry spills into clashes between the young residents of the two areas.

Casting

Kammula registered the title in 2010 and announced that the film would star newcomers. In September 2010 he launched a talent hunt with Vodafone India and Radio Mirchi, and the lead cast was finalised in April 2011 after about eight months of auditions. When one of the lead actresses left after almost six months of shooting, Shriya Saran was reportedly brought in to replace her, with singer Sunitha dubbing her lines.

Production

After several delays, filming began in June 2011 and was completed by May 2012. Art director Thotta Tharani supervised a gated-community set that the source says cost ₹1 crore. Vijay C. Kumar was the cinematographer. Ficus Inc acquired the overseas rights, and the satellite rights were reportedly sold to MAA TV for ₹3.5 crore.

Music

Mickey J. Meyer, who had worked with Kammula on Happy Days and Leader, composed the soundtrack. Anantha Sreeram and Vanamali wrote the lyrics, and Aditya Music released the album on 27 July 2012 at the Marriott Hotel in Hyderabad.

Reception

Reviews were mixed to positive, and many critics compared it with Kammula’s earlier Happy Days. DNA India found it overlong but moving and uplifting. CNN-IBN felt the plot lacked continuity and ended in a clichéd climax. Idlebrain praised Kammula’s trademark moments, the casting, the dialogue and the strong mother sentiment, but wished for a shorter runtime.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.