Life Is Beautiful
Film poster
Directed by	Sekhar Kammula
Produced by	Sekhar Kammula Chandrasekhar Kammula
Written by	Sekhar Kammula
Starring	Shriya Saran Anjala Zaveri Amala Akkineni Abijeet Duddala Sudhakar Komakula Kaushik Shagun Zara Shah Rashmi Shashtry
Music by	Mickey J Meyer
Cinematography	Vijay C. Kumar
Editing by	Marthand K. Venkatesh
Studio	Amigos Creations
Distributed by	Ficus (Overseas)[1]
Release date(s)	14 September 2012 (2012-09-14)[2]
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Box office	17.5 crore (US$3.2 million)(17 days)[3]

Life Is Beautiful is a 2012 Telugu film written, produced and directed by Sekhar Kammula.^[4] The film stars six newcomers with Shriya Saran, Anjala Zaveri and Amala Akkineni in key roles.^[5][6] The movie was jointly produced by Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar Kammula under Amigos Creations banner. Soundtrack of the film was composed by Mickey J Meyer and the cinematography was handled by Vijay C. Kumar.

Plot [edit]

The official synopsis for Life Is Beautiful says, "It is a coming of age story of six youngsters, set in the beautiful nostalgic world of a working-middle class neighborhood. The film tracks their journey through the different seasons, festivals, romances, street cricket, colony fights, and family gatherings. With the beginning of responsibilities, and adulthood looming around the corner, their dreams and aspirations bring them all together, to make the whole experience magical. Life is Beautiful is a story about new beginnings. It is a celebration of life and its smaller joys."^[7]

Cast [edit]

• Shriya Saran as Parvati (Paru)
• Anjala Zaveri as Maya
• Amala Akkineni as Amma
• Abijeet Duddala as Srinu
• Sudhakar Komakula as Nagraj
• Kaushik Darbha as Abhi
• Gurshagun Kaur Sachdeva as Paddu
• Zara Shah as Lakshmi
• Rashmi Shastry as Sathya
• Surekha Vani
• Kavya
• Naveen Polisetty as Rakesh
• Vijay Devarakonda as Ajay
• Sanjeev
• Sriram
• Charan Akula as Manish (Sathya's BF)
• Akshay Neelakantham as Maya's SMS Friend

Production [edit]

In August 2010, reports emerged that Sekhar Kammula registered the title Life Is Beautiful at the film chamber and would make the movie with Varun Sandesh.^[8] Seven months after his movie Leader was released, Sekhar officially announced that his next project was titled Life Is Beautiful and would star newcomers. On 3 September 2010, he announced a star hunt in association with Vodafone India and Radio Mirchi that would help him find the lead actors for the movie.^[9] In April 2011, it was announced that after almost 8 months of auditions and casting, the lead cast was finalized.^[10] After multiple delays, filming finally began in June 2011. In February 2012, it was reported that one of the film’s lead actress walked out of the project after shooting for almost six months. It was reported that Shriya Saran was cast in the film to replace the actor.^[11][12] Singer Sunitha Upadrashta who has given voice to most of Shekar's earlier films had provide her voice to actress Shriya Saran.^[13] It was announced that a gated community set worth 1 crore was built under the supervision of art director Thotta Tharani.^[14] In May 2012, it was reported that the filming was finally completed.^[15] On 6 July 2012, a press meet was held in Hyderabad where the cast was introduced and the first look of the film was launched.^[16][17]

Release [edit]

Although initial reports suggested that the film would release in early 2012, delays in filming and production pushed back the film release.^[18][19] In July 2012, it was announced that the film would release in August.^[20] The film was released worldwide on 14 September 2012 with premiers shows in USA on 13 September.^[21]

Pre-release revenues [edit]

In October 2011, it was announced that Ficus Inc had acquired the overseas theatrical distribution rights of the film.^[22] It was reported that the satellite rights of the film were sold to MAA TV for 3.5 crores.^[23][24]

Critical reception [edit]

The film received mixed reviews, many critics compared the film to Sekhar's previous film Happy Days (2007 film). DNA India wrote:"Sekhar Kammula has delivered again with Life is Beautiful. Yes, the film is a bit too long and there are many scenes that could have been edited out or even shot better — but all said and done... the three-hour long tale leaves you smiling, gushing and crying at several intervals. You leave the theatre feeling better about the world and thankful for the smallest joys in life — which we think is more than what Sekhar Kammula could have asked for".^[25] CNN-IBN wrote:"The plot lacked continuity and was heading in different directions before finally arriving at a cliched climax".^[26] Oneindia wrote:"It has a good story and performances but suffers from dragging narration".^[27] 123telugu wrote:"A brilliant performance from Amala in the climax and a few good scenes are the film’s assets. Bad screenplay, excessive length and lack of entertainment will work against the film".^[28] Idlebrain wrote:"The plus points are Sekhar’s trade mark beautiful moments, casting, dialogues, direction and a strong mother sentiment. On the flip side, a better background music and shorter runtime would have helped the film further. On a whole, Life is Beautiful is a good movie".^[29]

Soundtrack [edit]

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Mickey J Meyer. Mickey previously worked with Sekhar for Happy Days and Leader. The audio of the film was released on 27 July 2012 at Marriott Hotel in Hyderabad through Aditya Music label. Lyrics for the songs were penned by Anantha Sreeram and Vanamali.^[30] The music premier of the album was held at Radio Mirchi where the songs were played for the first time for public hearing.^[31][32]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official website
• Life Is Beautiful at the Internet Movie Database