‘Be Happy’ movie review: Abhishek Bachchan hits the right beats in Remo D’Souza’s love letter to dance

In typical Remo D’Souza fashion, it is dance, dance performances, and a Ganesha dance number that seem to present the solution to the tribulations of life — while there is nothing wrong with the creative decision, it leaves the audience wanting more

An old Yiddish proverb goes, “Man makes plans, and God laughs.” However, Remo D’Souza’s latest directorial, Be Happy, is particularly painful as God takes to task a young girl who makes plans for a future she dreams of dancing in.

Set in the hills of Ooty, Dhara (Inayat Verma), a schoolgirl who is at her best when allowed to dance, lives with her father, Shiv Rastogi (Abhishek Bachchan), and her grandfather, Mr. Nadar (Nassar). Eight years after losing his wife in a road accident, Shiv refuses to move out of the hill station in search of better opportunities as he is keen on holding on to the life and memories he once shared with Dhara’s mother. He is the archetype of a stoic, distant Indian father who urges his children to focus on studies for a ‘stable’ future and never attempts to deconstruct the complex emotions he has simmering beneath the surface.

Be Happy (Hindi)

Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Inayat Verma, Nora Fatehi, Nassar
Runtime: 128 minutes
Storyline: A dance-drama film that follows a single father and his witty, wise-beyond-her-years daughter

Dhara, on the other hand, has a zest for life that is infectious. She seeks inspiration from her dance teacher at school, Maggi (Nora Fatehi), and entertains her whimsical grandfather with her dance performances and pretend-games. As she works towards her dream of dancing on the stage of ‘India’s Superstar Dancer,’ she is forced to contend with her father and his hopes for her. Watching her break his shell and tear his stoic veneer apart is hilarious, and despite the half-baked, overly dramatic dialogues, Abhishek and Inayat are convincing in their respective roles and bring the father-daughter equation to life. Inayat embodies Dhara and moves about as a spark of light while Abhishek true to Shiv (initially at least) sucks out the energy of every scene he walks in to with his grumpy demeanor.

As Dhara secures a position in Maggi’s dance academy, clearing her way to participate in India’s Superstar Dancer, Shiv has to contemplate whether he should send her to Mumbai to pursue her dreams or keep her nestled in the hills back home, setting the film into motion. 

With a decision like that and a move to a metrocity, the potential to explore the characters and their underlying tensions is in abundance. But D’Souza hastens through it all to center dance and the dance competition as the crux of the movie, bringing an air of nonchalance and superficiality to the film. He also goes on to exaggerate Dhara’s wisdom where, in one instance, she installs dating apps on her dad’s phone, asking him to get her a ‘Mommy 2.0’.

As Nora Fatehi tries to cement her presence on the screen as an agile dance teacher, she stumbles; her dialogue delivery feels mechanical. 

As the obstacles in Dhara’s path to fulfil her dream multiply, the treatment of the characters and emotions continues to drift in the river of melodrama that set the tone of the movie in the first half of the film. In typical Remo D’Souza fashion, it is dance, dance performances, and a Ganesha dance number that seem to present the solution to the tribulations of life. While there is nothing wrong with the creative decision, it leaves the audience wanting more out of the film.

Be Happy is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Published - March 14, 2025 12:04 pm IST