Sandeep Kumar's 'Happy' - A Cinematic Blend of Cultures

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Sandeep Kumar, an Indian-Austrian filmmaker, has realized his dream project with the film "Happy," which explores the journey of an illegal Indian immigrant in Austria. The movie took over 12 years to come to fruition, finally releasing in 2024. It portrays the life of a struggling immigrant battling the consequences of a deportation notice while striving to support his young daughter.

"It was a dream project. I worked on it for almost 12 years. I kept working on it. I was looking for something special to narrate. Eventually, we shot it in 2022, we completed it in 2024," Kumar shared with PTI in an interview

Originating from Delhi, Kumar eventually relocated to Germany before settling in Austria. He is credited with introducing "Austro-Bollywood," a unique genre that merges the vibrancy of mainstream Indian cinema with the stark social realism often found in Austrian films.

Kumar explained that his earlier works, "Kesariya Balam" and "Servus Ishq," were pioneering examples of this genre, born out of his curiosity to blend two cinematic cultures. "I just wanted to see what comes out of it. And when you combine that, when you intermix both cultures, not just both cultures, but also both cinematic cultures... I did the first one in 2010, which came across very well. We also won a national award here for that," he remarked.

"Happy" is set to be featured at the European Union Film Festival, running from Friday until November 9. Kumar sees this screening as a groundbreaking event

"I think it's for the first time that an Indian-born director is getting an Austrian film to the European Film Festival as a representation from Austria. And, of course, with an Indian lead... It's breaking ground as well that for the first time an Indian actor from India learned German for months to do the lead role in an Austrian film in the German language... That never happened before. So I think it's quite an interesting mix for the audiences who will be coming for this screening," he noted.

Discussing his future projects, Kumar revealed that he has completed an American drama that delves into "the nothingness of life." "I shot one film last year in New York, it's an American drama film about the nothingness of life. It's between an older gentleman and a younger man and how they discover life after meeting each other. I explored the kind of a theme, which I think is global," he elaborated.