Hi Movie Review:

Desire. Almost every relationship is based on a desire of some sort. It can be a desire for companionship, touch, love, family, respect, and of course, lust. But at the base of it all is a desire to feel desired. Wanting someone to want you for who you are is a high that many go through life without ever feeling. It is in pursuit of this uns that people give their all. Vishnu Edavan’s Hi is about one such guy, Mayilsamy (A wonderfully understated Kavin), who has everything but love of the romantic kind. He meets a down-in-the-dumps woman, Devayani (A superb Nayanthara), who has nothing but the belief that love is destined for the more fortunate ones. No prizes for guessing where the movie goes from here, and the best part? Vishnu isn’t interested in making you play the guessing game, and just wants you to sit back and enjoy a simple, cheery romcom that hits you right at the feels. 

Director: Vishnu Edavan 

Cast: Nayanthara, Kavin, Radikaa Sarathkumar, K Bhagyaraj, Prabhu, Kathir 

After a particularly devastating rejection, Mayilsamy runs away from home when his doting parents, played by K Bhagyaraj and Radikaa Sarathkumar, decide to get him married. A few kilometres away, Devayani runs away from home when her not-so-doting-but-good-natured father, played by Prabhu, is coerced to accept a nefarious attempt at marriage by her ‘mora payyan’. These two, who ran away from their homes at different points in their lives, find each other in the big, not-so-bad city of Chennai. There are a few early jitters in the film, but once it establishes the differences between Mayilsamy and Devayani and gives them their meet-cute under starry nights and romantic rains, the film enters a smooth 8-lane road with no disturbances, no potholes, and no lane interventions. Vishnu has a firm grip on the wheel and safely navigates the film to its happily-ever-after, deciding when to accelerate, when to cruise, when to take a pit stop, and finally when to stop. 

The Chennai portions are filled with a lot of cute scenes that never once even breach into ‘cringe’ territory. Not that being cringe in romance is bad, but it is nicer to see a film not attempt to conflate cuteness with forced comedy. In fact, Hi revels in its cuteness, and these portions play out like a 90s Hollywood rom-com such as Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, One Fine Day, and Notting Hill. Once the film shifts to Coimbatore, Hi becomes a true-blue Tamil romcom, which means families are involved, there is a comedy of errors, and a feeling of all’s well that ends well. It is also in this shift of location that the film becomes a bit too all over the place. 

After a point, there are one too many characters in the narrative, and some resolutions are unironically old-school and feel out of place. But it is the ensemble's performances that hold the film together when it veers into melodramatic territory. It always helps when you have actors like Radikaa Sarathkumar, Prabhu, and K Bhagyaraj at the centre of things. Vishnu gets it right with this casting because their mere presence does a lot of heavy lifting. In fact, even with this casting, he goes against the grain to give a Prabhu we haven’t seen recently, and a Bhagyaraj who has the sole action scene in the film. It is beautiful how Prabhu can still transfer his emotions to you even after all these years. Also, Adithya Kathir, who plays Kavin’s friend, gets a good role, and he delivers, as well. 

This journey of Hi is made even more beautiful by the easy charm exuded by Nayanthara and Kavin, who ensure the romance doesn’t overshadow the comedy, and the comedy doesn’t overpower the romance. It is a beautiful balance and the film mostly manages to get things right. Visually, cinematographer Rajesh Shukla designs a film that is chic, contemporary, rustic, and yet isn’t too cinematic. The same is done by composer Jen Martin, who delivers a soundscape that is perfectly suited to the film's upbeat nature.  

The film explores how sacrifice finds its true worth when it is understood, and how love sometimes needs divine approval. Another interesting aspect of Hi is undoubtedly what the filmmaker left unsaid. It is the season of age-gap romance, and we know Nayanthara is older than Kavin, both in age and in cinema experience. In fact, when Kavin made his acting debut in 2011 with the television serial, Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal, Nayanthara had already worked with the likes of Rajinikanth, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Venkatesh, Ajith, Vijay, Jr NTR, Nandamuri Balakrishna, and was already planning to hang up her boots. So, when such a pairing was announced, many expected the film to deal with the age gap between the leads. But again, why should that be the case when we are so used to our heroes being much older than the heroines, and yet, there is never a conversation about their age? Now, we aren’t sure what Mayilsamy and Devayani's ages are in the film, but Vishnu asks a simple question: Why should it be a bother? Why should he go out of his way to establish that this romance is ‘normal’? Can’t Mayilsamy and Devayani fall in love without Kavin and Nayanthara’s ages becoming a topic of discussion? It never was a discussion before, so why should it become one because it is against the norm? It is beautiful how Vishnu defies such norms without making a brouhaha about it. He doesn’t want to start a conversation; he wants to actually cut down on such conversations. 

Nevertheless, the film is entirely mounted on the shoulders of Kavin and Nayanthara, and they are wonderful as two friends whom we wish would fall in love. Their friendship also grows organically, and the transition to romance might not always feel organic, but it feels like the right thing to happen. But as it always happens, one falls in love before the other; the other has to come to terms with what the first might think of them. This is an idea as old as love itself, and Vishnu doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, he allows the film, just like love, to find its own way, and where Hi ends up is in a place where desire doesn’t have to be sacrificed on the altar of fear, and I think… that’s beautiful.