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Hridayam Movie Review: This Coming-Of-Age Drama Has Its Heart In The Right Place!
Hridayam, the highly anticipated project which features Pranav Mohanlal in the lead role, has finally had a grand release. The coming-of-age musical drama, which is written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan, revolves around a young man's life journey from his late teens to his early 30s. Hridayam features Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran as the female leads.
Did the Pranav Mohanlal-Vineeth Sreenivasan film live up to expectations? Read the Hridayam movie review here to know...
*No Spoilers Ahead*
What's Yay:
The cast and performances (especially Pranav Mohanlal)
Script & Direction
Music score and song placements
Visuals and technical aspects
What's Nay:
Duration
Plot
Arun Neelakandan (Pranav Mohanlal) joins KC Tech, a popular engineering college in Chennai for his graduation. Hridayam focuses on how the various incidents that happened in those four years shaped his personality and influence his journey ahead.
Script & Direction
Vineeth Sreenivasan, the multi-faceted talent has delivered one of his finest works as a filmmaker, with Hridayam. This Pranav Mohanlal starrer is a well-made coming-of-age drama, that most of the audiences will relate with at some point. Writer-director Vineeth has crafted the transitions of its central character Arun's life organically, thus bringing a plethora of nostalgia and emotions to the audience.
The biggest plus point of Hridayam is the way it has developed its lead characters while making use of the strengths of the actors who played them. The excellent casting of the film deserves a special round of applause. Another major factor that makes the film absolutely enjoyable is the brilliant placement of its songs.
However, Hridayam is not a flawless film. The film takes its own sweet time developing the central character Arun and his surroundings in the highly impactful first half. However, things seem a bit rushed in the second half. For instance, Arun's relationship with Darshana (Darshana Rajendran) is explored well, while his relationship with Nithya (Kalyani Priyadarshan) blooms in a hurry and suddenly shifts to its next phase. Also, there are certain characters that are left unexplored. The long running time of Hridayam might be an issue for the audiences, who prefer a crisp watch.
Performances
Pranav Mohanlal - the actor has finally arrived with Hridayam. This Vineeth Sreenivasan directorial has totally reinvented the star kid's potential. Pranav's immense growth as an actor is visible in his portrayal of Arun Neelakandan's transitions from a boy to a man. The young actor simply shines in romantic and emotional sequences. His dialogue delivery and voice modulation are also top-notch. Pranav Mohanlal is definitely here to stay.
Darshana Rajendran, who plays Darshana, once again proves her mettle as a performance with the layered character. Kalyani Priyadarshan, on the other hand, steals the show with her charming screen presence and humour sense. Both the actresses, especially Kalyani shares an amazing onscreen chemistry Pranav Mohanlal. The rest of the star cast, including Aju Varghese, Aswath Lal, Vijayaraghavan, Johny Antony, Arun Kurian, Annu Antony, Megha Thomas, Kalesh, and others have played the respective roles to near perfection.
Technical Aspects
Vishwajith Odukkathil makes a great debut as an independent cinematographer with Hridayam. The excellent visualisation of the film brings the unseen face of Chennai city to the big screens in its full glory. Ranjan Abraham has done a great job with the editing. The production design team also deserves a special mention.
But the heart and soul of Hridayam is Hesham Abdul Wahab's fantastic music score. The real essence of this Vineeth Sreenivasan directorial clearly lies in those 15 songs, that literally hold the narrative together. Hesham is definitely going to make it big.
Verdict
Hridayam is a well-made coming-of-age musical drama that brings a plethora of emotions and nostalgia to its viewers. This film has its heart in the right place, thanks to its exceptional making, brilliant performances, and fantastic music score.
