Hridayapoorvam Movie Review: A fantastic Mohanlal powers this warm hug of a film

Mohanlal and Sathyan Anthikad have been defining the emotional core of the average Malayali for over four decades now. Despite technological advancements, the propensity for action extravaganzas in today’s times, and the seeming erosion of the audience’s attention span, Mohanlal and Sathyan reunite for a film that reminds us why these two were allowed to define emotions closest to our hearts. Anger, love, fear, guilt, regret, happiness, devastating sadness, and a smile that finds its way through it all…

Director: Sathyan Anthikad

Cast: Mohanlal, Malavika Mohanan, Sangita, and Sangeeth Prathap

When Sandeep Balakrishnan (Mohanlal) gets a heart transplant courtesy of a donor, Colonel Ravindranath, the stage is set for a sappy family drama about a grateful recipient and a bereaved family. But Akhil Sathyan’s story and Sonu TP’s screenplay have other plans. They want us to know why Sandeep says, “A heart is just a tool. It is just doing its job. There is nothing sentimental there.” This is the first time Sandeep is addressing the new heart placed in his body, and he chooses pragmatism over emotions. Of course, we have seen enough films to know that the literal change of heart would result in a figurative change of heart. But we wait because what is the fun in wanting to predict the narrative in a Sathyan Anthikad film? His template has worked like clockwork since the 1980s, and somehow, it still ticks like it is just another Monday.

So, before we understand what makes Sandeep the way he is, we are plonked right in the middle of the quiet yet bustling Pune, where he is invited to attend the engagement of his donor’s daughter, Haritha (Malavika Mohanan). No points for guessing what would transpire when he reaches this new city to be with a new set of people with an all-new heart. But, the writers infuse this predictable narrative with the right amount of surprises, and keep the proceedings light despite the film having enough and more moments that veer towards excessive melodrama.

One of the striking aspects of Hridayapoorvam, apart from Anu Moothedath's visuals of Pune and Justin Prabhakaran's soundtrack, is how the film answers a lot of questions about Sandeep, some of which we didn't even think of asking. Through Haritha's indulgence and the no-nonsense warmth of her mother, Devika (Sangita), we understand Sandeep's fluttering emotions and how the change of heart also means that this new heart has space to feel loved and cared for. Hridayapoorvam is the story of a loner finding the importance of relationships, which aren't just the fleeting kind. Sandeep was surviving with his job, his employees, his tenants, and an ill heart. But thriving is important, right? And this is a life that he never knew he wanted because he never knew he deserved the same.

And this life beautifully unfolds in Hridayapoorvam through Sandeep's understanding of the world of Ravindranath. We see how three women — the wife, the daughter, and the housemaid — in the same house saw this person. It is a wonderful touch that the filmmaker decides not to put a face to the person. These writing flourishes are seen through the minutest things in the film. The way Sandeep walks after suffering an injury that extends his stay, or Haritha observing a dance step in the middle of a song, simply because she wasn't there right from the beginning, or the moment Sandeep's heroism is cut down to size. That is why it is surprising when the film decides to service Mohanlal, briefly forgetting Sandeep, who is already having a lot of fun, well within the scope of his character.

But that is the power of Mohanlal, I guess. He keeps the film together through its highs and lows, and the moments of complete nothingness in between. While his equation with an excellent Sangeeth Prathap is a hoot, there are moments where these scenes feel cut short. The same holds good with the scenes with Siddique and Lalu Alex, which lack a sense of novelty and feel misplaced. On the contrary, actors like Baburaj, who only get a single scene, add a lot of value to the film.

Interestingly, Hridayapoorvam treads in very sketchy regions for a while before finding its feet in the family-friendly space. But it shows signs of an evolution in the filmmaker, who is ably supported by an actor who understands the thin line between cute and garish. Malavika is a revelation in the film, and it goes on to show that the right character, under the aegis of a brilliant filmmaker, can change our beliefs about certain actors' histrionic abilities.

Sathyan Anthikad doesn't mind spoon-feeding today's audience, but he does so without giving them the feel of being in a classroom. And in the company of a terrific Mohanlal, the veteran filmmaker gives us the movie equivalent of the fun uncle, who is a lovely storyteller. We might think we are all growing too old to enjoy such stories, but when circled around such raconteurs, we become the people we think were lost to adulting.

Hridayapoorvam asks us to take a breather and look around to see if someone wants a hug, or better still, if someone is offering a hug. Even the toughest among us would love to be hugged and told, from the heart, that things will be alright, and Hridayapoorvam does that with so much warmth that it is okay to look past the few misses, because... the heart beats fonder for films that allow us to smile, laugh, cry, and... just feel with abandon.