Heartin Movie Review:

A romance doesn't need an unconventional premise to leave an impression; it only needs characters whose emotions feel lived in. Heartin has the ingredients of an engaging romantic drama: An old flame, a new love, and an accident-induced memory loss. But debutant Kishore Kumar never breathes enough life into its people for their joys or heartbreaks to matter.

The film begins in Rajasthan's Jaipur, where Shiva (Sananth) owns a Tamil food joint with his friend Mani (Whatsapp Mani). In a side gig that exists only for a Kushi-style couple crossing paths without knowing they will fall head over heels for the other, Shiva teams up with one of his friends for a heritage walk at Nahargarh. After their first encounter at the fort, a visibly enchanted (Don't ask how) Sadhana (Emaya T) uses the Tamil food excuse to frequently see Shiva. As sparks fly between them, Shiva hesitates to take the relationship further due to his bitter breakup with Sahithya (Madonna Sebastian).

Iconic films since Nenjathai Killathe, that discuss a past relationship of one or both male and female leads, were effective due to well-defined characterisations and a labyrinth of complexities created by the characters' idiosyncrasies. These are the elements that make either the emotional maturity to move on or the reconciliation of past mistakes of characters profound. Debutant Kishore Kumar instead only takes these good ideas and spreads them thin in the almost two-hour film. Exploration of the human psyche is a content goldmine; no matter how much you dig, there is always more. A bare bones unidimensional characterisation is understandable, not always welcome, in a film that keeps its hero busy saving the world. But it is unforgivable in a human drama or romance film. The insights into Shiva, Sahithya, and Sadhana are shockingly sparse to hold on to anyone or empathise over their traumas or root for their desires. 

Director: Kishore Kumar

Cast: Sananth, Emaya T, Madonna Sebastian

Any triangular romance is only as good as how it treats both love stories in different time periods. Heartin enjoys a story that could both flirt with moving on from a relationship and also reconciling with an ex-lover, but ends up bungling with it. Except for a jilted loverboy and a marriage-dodging girl moving from Chennai to Jaipur, the narrative doesn't acquaint Shiva or Sahithya with the audience. Not only does the film shirk from its first duty, being a romantic drama, of not delving deep into its characters, but it is not very inventive with situations, either. While the writing was shockingly basic, what was even more shocking was the narration breaking its own rule, although feeble. There was no justification for Sadhana, who fled Chennai not to get married, to fall for Shiva in their very first encounter. The falling in love should have moved from Shiva's perspective, who is introduced as someone gloomy and terse, rather than Sadhana, who wouldn't take her eyes off of him for simply helping her with coding. What the film does to Madonna's Sahithya is even more unfair.

The biggest grouse with Sahithya's characterisation is that it is merely a physical representation of a screenplay writing device, in which an earnest Madonna labours through. The sketchily written romance between Shiva and Sadhana had the chance to salvage itself had Shiva's past love gotten a stronger treatment. But the writers, however, decided to follow the autopilot mode, as for some weird reason love needs to hasten in a romantic drama, of all genres. The makers believed that a series of montages during, in between, and after Shiva and Sahithya's courting was all it took to convince. Sahithya's comeback into Shiva's life after the latter gets hurt and forgets his recent past, and remembers only his college days with Mani and Sahithya, doesn't cause any kind of tension or reach a dramatic crescendo. It is because their story was weak in the first place. A rare flair, and an even rarer third opportunity, shows up only as briefly as Sahithya fancies of making it up with Shiva as she helplessly cries to Mani, saying that she fears that she would begin liking to see all this once again. But that's that. Like how Sahithya gets played on by the screenplay, relegating her to a mere tool to reignite love between Shiva and Sadhana, the audience is led to think the momentarily interesting spaces will build to something towards the end.

Heartin is a romantic drama without a beating heart, convinced that a handful of ideas and a cookie-cutter approach to characters and emotions are enough to carry it through. In a way, the film lives up to its title. The heart in Heartin is merely a decorative symbol of love, not the flesh-and-blood organ that pumps life into it. If the emotional journey of a romance can be likened to an ECG, it should have soaring peaks and crushing valleys. Instead, Heartin remains a flat line; never truly coming alive, never leaving an impact.