“I was wary of doing a sitcom,” writer-director Gunnam Gangaraju tells us when we quiz him about his new television series, Many Happy Returns . This marks his return to comedy on television, years after the popular Amrutham .
Many Happy Returns stars film actor Kireeti Damaraju as the fun-loving guy who’d be happy to enjoy five-day weekends and anchor Lasya plays his wife, a doctor.
Gangaraju was approached by ETV for a sitcom and the writer developed a 13-episode series. “The characters are well delineated and I chose actors who wouldn’t give over-the-top expressions. Kireeti’s body language suits his part. He’s a happy go lucky guy who wants each day to be a celebration and starts an event management company called ‘Many Happy Returns’. Though his business is celebration, things go wrong. We show the clash between him and his in-laws, who think he is not up to the mark,” explains Gangaraju.
Kireeti, who is working his way up in films, admits he was hesitant when he was approached for a television series. The fact that it was written by Gunnam Gangaraju was the clincher. “How does one say no to him? His writing is brilliant, characters are quirky and the comedy is fresh. Many Happy Returns is set in a contemporary space,” says the actor.
Kireeti appreciates Gangaraju’s knack of creating plots from small incidents and making them worthwhile. “This is an unusual couple; she is more mature of the two. You won’t find exaggerated acting here,” says Kireeti, who is also looking forward to the release of his new film Meeku Meere Maaku Meme , on June 17.
The sitcom is a one-off project for both the actor and Gangaraju. Lamenting the quality of writing in television, Gangaraju says, “There is a need for fresh content. You need good budgets to hire good writers and even if you pay more, there is a dearth of good writers. We had to stop Amrutham after a point because it was tough to find writers who could keep that momentum. A story needs to have a beginning, middle and an end. Plots cannot be woven from a one-line story. Writing takes time and effort. American sitcoms have good content because the best of writers are involved. Many writers here look at television as a stepping stone to cinema.”
Gangaraju doesn’t see himself doing another sitcom any time soon. He is working on two scripts for feature films and has written dialogues for Sankalp Reddy’s war film Ghazi starring Rana Daggubati.
( Many Happy Returns airs every Saturday on ETV Plus at 7 p.m.)
