46. Hridayam; movie review

 

HRIDAYAM

Cert 12A

171 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, sex references, language, bloody images

I have been watching Indian movies for more than a decade and have never laughed as much as I did during Hridayam.

It is a love story but not sickly sweet, it is part-comedy without being slapstick, everyone can relate to its characters and most of all it will make its audiences feel good. 

It also shows just how far Malayalam cinema has come - certainly, during the time I have been immersed into it.

The earworm soundtrack, production values and quality of acting have not only matched Bollywood but arguably set a new bar.

Hridayam is the tale of a young man, Arun (Pranav Mohanlal), from the time he is accepted into college in his teens through to his 30s.

It a story of self-discovery with love and friendship at its heart. It also highlights his occasional wrong path.

Pranav has already shown himself capable of emerging from the shadow of his very illustrious father, the most famous actor in Malayalam cinema history. For example, he was great in Aadhi.

But I would argue that this role fully cements him as a star in his own right.

He is barely recognisable as a lad with a curly mop of hair who is wide-eyed about his first time away from home.

On the train to Chennai he bumps into the good-hearted but even more naive Antony, played by Aswath Lal who has many of the film's big laughs.

The two become firm friends and their adventures lead them firstly against the bullying of the college seniors and then in the direction of girls.

The chase of the latter is the heart of the film with two young women, portrayed by Darshana Rajendran and Kalyani Priyadarshan pulling at Arun's heartstrings.

Arun makes plenty of mistakes in the search for the right woman and makes lifelong friends and a few enemies along the way.

Hridayam's success lies in Vineeth Sreenivasan not overplaying the drama or comedy.

So, there are some really funny lines without the film ever descending into slapstick and there is excitement but the hero is not too brash. Indeed, when he is, he faces comeuppance.

Suffice to say, we really enjoyed it and the near sold-out audience at Nottingham Cineworld were clearly lapping it up.

Reasons to watch: Made us laugh more than any Indian film 

Reasons to avoid: Some may find it a frippery

Laughs: Ten

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Pranav Mohanlal debuted in Mollywood at the age of 11 with the 2002 movie ‘Onnaman’. He played the childhood version of Ravishankar, portrayed by his dad, Mohanlal.

The final word. No one can guess what Pranav is thinking. There will be a perennial smile on his face though. Despite working together I haven’t been able to understand Pranav. Onmanorama

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