Shyam Shivammogga’s first directorial venture with Srujan Lokesh comes with several twists and turns. Titled Happy Journey, the story revolves around Arya (Srujan Lokesh), a technical engineer who works in an automobile showroom along with his friends, who live with him.
Arya is in love with his colleague Shravani (Ameeta Kulal), but his introvert nature does not let him express his feelings with ease. When he finally riles up the courage to propose the girl, he gets rejected. Arya is then seen battling a post traumatic stress disorder. During this journey how his friends end on a guilt trip forms the crux of the story.
While the director had a good subject line and content in hand, he seems to have been confused on the genre of cinema he intended to build. The movie seems all over the place and isn’t focused on either being a suspense thriller or a commecial entertainer. The newcomer has also failed to gauge Srujan’s current popularity, underplaying the actor’s performance abilities.
With Happy Journey, Srujan aims to experiment as an actor and succeeds in showcasing the two shades of his character.
Ameeta Kulal is restricted to rendering the glam quotient to the movie. Supporting characters Kuri Pratap and Naveen Padeel do not add enough laughs to this mystery tale and there’s nothing notable about SP Chandrakanth’s music and Seenu’s cinematography.
Would the audience take to going on this trail? We leave that to them.
Rating: 2.5/5