One priceless moment in this Malayali mishmash of sincerity and sentimentality stands out. It is when a passing stranger stops Mohanlal to ask if he is from Kerala, the land of FaFa.
“FaFa? Fahadh Faasil? You know there are some senior actors in Malayalam who are also very good,” Mohanlal’s mock-rebuke had me chuckling long after the self-mocking joke had faded, leaving behind a film that is quick with words and retorts but exasperatingly emptied-out at its heart.
Which is really sad, considering Hridaypoorvam is all about the heart. Mohanlal, in one of his more levitational roles in recent times, plays Sandeep, a crabby, finicky entrepreneur who gets a heart transplant.
In every breach of protocol, Sandeep flies from Kochi to Pune for the engagement of the daughter of the man whose heart now beats in Sandeep’s chest. If you can override this ridiculous premise, the film is reasonably endearing in parts, especially since Malavika Mohanan, playing the daughter of the heart donor, sparkles in and steals every scene from the mighty Mohanlal.
Malavika, playing the sorted Haritha, with her vivacious personality mirroring Priyanka Chopra, is the film’s heartbeat. The other scene-stealer is Sangeeth Pratap as Jerry, Sandeep’s caretaker with a sharp tongue and an even sharper sixth sense.
I wish the writing was as unsparing and blunt for others. Some of the verbal exchanges are fairly acute, but that happens when the script is not trying to act cute. The growing fondness between Sandeep and Haritha is done in the spirit of a tongue-in-cheek jibe at the culture of forbidden love. No one says it aloud, but if the man with your father’s heart falls for you, there is a suggestion of incest in the alliance.
To compound Sandeep’s woes, Haritha’s mother Devika (Sangita Madhavan Nair) also has a soft corner for Sandeep. Jeez, say cheese! The mother-daughter-done triangle is a bit of an over-cute gimmick meant to titillate rather than cogitate.
Come to think of it, director Sathyan Anthikad seems to use the very sensitive issue of a heart transplant as a gimmick. There are some slices of sobriety scattered in the storytelling. But a large part of the plot is titivated with affectations rather than genuine feelings. Mohanlal’s Sandeep is especially too much to handle. He keeps tripping, stumbling, falling. Heart transplant be damned! Is he too arrogant to understand the gravity of the heart situation, or is it the screenwriter who has erred in positioning the intricate surgical procedure as a bubbly booster in the plot?
Though not an entire loss, Hridaypoorvam could have done with more gravity and less giggles.
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