The New Year festivities definitely calls for a grand celebration and catching up with your loved ones. Make the day joyful for your loved ones with these New Year wishes and quotes.
2024 is almost here! With new resolutions and goals, people across the world are set to ring in a prosperous New Year on January 1. The New Year festivities definitely calls for a grand celebration, catching up with your loved ones and levelling up your aspirations.
But first, jumpstart your New Year celebrations by sharing these heartfelt wishes, quotes and WhatsApp messages with your friends and family:
1. In 2024, may you find the courage to embrace change, welcoming new opportunities and adventures with open arms.
2. As the new year unfolds, may your dreams take flight and reach new heights. May success be your constant companion, and may each endeavor bring you closer to your aspirations.
3. Here's to leaving behind the old, embracing the new, and stepping into 2024 with open hearts and open minds.
4. As we bid farewell to 2023, may your heart be light, your days be bright, and your year be just right!
5. Wishing You an Amazing 2024 New Year. May this year bring you endless opportunities and happiness. Share these New Year wishes to inspire your loved ones to chase their dreams.
6. My dearest (parent/sibling/child), I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished this last year. I know you will continue to do great things in 2024. Have a wonderful holiday. Happy New Year!
7. Wishing that you have a truly remarkable and blissful year ahead! Happy New Year to you and your family!
8. Pop, fizz, clink—let’s toast to the future and pour another drink! Happy New Year!
9. This New Year, I wish that you have a superb January, a dazzling February, a Peaceful March, an anxiety-free April, a sensational May, and joy that keeps going from June to November, and then round off with an upbeat December.
10. Wishing you 12 months of success, 52 weeks of laughter, 365 days of fun, 8,760 hours of joy, 525,600 minutes of good luck, and 31,536,000 seconds of happiness.
As the New Year approaches, individuals eagerly anticipate the joyous celebrations that accompany the dawn of a fresh beginning. Surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones, people relish the prospect of new opportunities that the coming year holds. So why not share these quirky, heartfelt wishes with your dear ones to make thier day on January 1.
Nani, Mrunal Thakur and composer Hesham Abdul Wahab elevate debut director Shouryuv’s emotional drama about love and the play of destiny
Nani, Kiara Khanna and Mrunal Thakur in the Telugu film ‘Hi Nanna’, directed by Shouryuv | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Some stories urge us to suspend our disbelief and give in to their charm. Destiny and the power of love drive debut writer-director Shouryuv’s Telugu film Hi Nanna. This tale that introduces us to beautiful people in picture- perfect settings has a few nostalgic tropes such as a pet dog being a catalyst at crucial times. It is cinematic but comfortingly familiar. The leading man, actor Nani, portrays a single father, wearing his heart on his sleeve and making us well up in tears, and Mrunal Thakur revels in the portrayal of her layered characterisation. Hesham Abdul Wahab’s background score is a foil to this tale that sometimes sounds improbable and demands that we set our cynicism aside. Does it work? How much one enjoys this film depends on whether we accept some of the reveals as the narrative progresses and embrace it with its rough edges.
Viraj (Nani) is a celebrity photographer in Mumbai, living with his six-year-old daughter Mahi (child actor Kiara Khanna) in a house that belongs to architecture magazines (production designer Avinash Kolla and cinematographer Sanu John Varghese whip up an aesthetic visual palette). Viraj’s calendar is choc-a-bloc but he tailors it around his daughter’s requirements.
The first few minutes give us an idea of him being a hands-on father. Mahi’s small world with her father, grandfather (Jayaram), pet dog Pluto and Viraj’s friend and colleague Justin (Priyadarshi) looks nearly perfect. However, she is curious about her mother.
Storyline: A single father begins to narrate the story of the missing mother to his child and nothing remains the same
Music: Hesham Abdul Wahab
Shouryuv begins unpacking Viraj’s past in a fairytale manner, in a format that the father uses to tell his daughter bedtime stories, and slowly broaches the bittersweet portions. The writer-director hopes that his audience, too, will patiently listen in and not let the social media-driven short-term attention span get the better of them. He puts Viraj in a spot by making him narrate his past in the presence of Yashna (Mrunal Thakur, voice by Chinmayi), who has befriended Mahi minutes earlier. Slowly, the writer pulls a few tricks from his hat. Events leading up to intermission warrant us to embrace a few old world tropes, particularly about medical conditions and the play of fate.
One can either be dismissive about these trajectories or appreciate how the writer-director uses them to show the contrasting personalities in a relationship. If Viraj is all about hope, his wife has anxiety issues that stem from growing up in a broken home. There are promises made, only to be mocked by destiny. The woman wallows in grief and guilt while the man, also in grief, desperately holds on to a silver lining.
Watch the Trailer
A sizable portion of the narrative rests on the single father’s resilience. There’s a lovely scene early on between Viraj and his prospective mother-in-law playing out like a been-there-seen-that situation of highlighting economic differences. Viraj counters her in the most emphatic way possible, making us root for him. Nani makes the writing seem even better in the manner in which he portrays the determination and innocence of Viraj who believes in love at first sight and later as the father who will move heaven and earth for his daughter. This is easily Nani’s best in the emotional space since Jersey and he can make you well up long after leaving the hall.
Music composer Hesham Abdul Wahab is a big asset to the film. The songs are hummable and pleasant, but the background score takes the cake. When the strains of ‘Idhe idhe tholisariga…’ play at different points, it is impossible not to be moved. He also uses the calming notes of the waves and silences where essential.
Mahi’s mother’s story unravels by and by. There’s predictability in these portions that show how a strong romance, despite the chinks in its armour, can overshadow everything else. The banter on the beach and the party song (featuring Shruti Haasan) feel overdrawn. More characters are brought into the fray, like the ones played by Angad Bedi and Viraj Ashwin. A cheeky Kuch Kuch Hota Hai reference is thrown in through a line uttered at the mandap.
We know how the tale will end. But in the process, it’s not just Viraj and his wife who get to introspect on their relationship, parenting and destiny. Jayaram’s understated character gently reinforces the beauty of love and responsible parenting for the older generation as well.
Mrunal, who is gorgeously turned out by design, comes into her own in the final act. After Sita Ramam, this film gives her a more complex character and she steps up, giving it her best shot. For Priyadarshi, the friend-colleague part is like a walk in the park. He blends in with ease and in many places, where he rolls his eyes at the turn of events or nudges things in a certain direction, he is us, the rational audience wondering where all of this is headed. Child actor Kiara Khanna holds the drama together with her innocence and vulnerability.
A few minor details make the narrative more authentic. The story that begins in Mumbai, travels back in time to Coonoor and then to Goa, reflects the multilingual, multicultural people of these regions with a smattering of English, Hindi and Tamil.
I wish an episode in the final stretch didn’t rely on convenient coincidences. One can argue that elite Mumbaikars keep jetsetting to Goa and it isn’t a surprise to find well-qualified professionals among them. Shouryuv drops hints when he introduces certain supporting characters and their profession. Yet, it came across as filmi. Nevertheless, the narrative has its heart in the right place and hopes that we embrace it despite its leaps of faith.
Hi Nanna is a heartwarming story of a father, daughter and the mother fighting her demons and believing in love. Such stories don’t go out of fashion, and Shouryuv’s drama is a breather amid larger-than-life action entertainers.
