Hridayapoorvam does not break new ground or tell a story as old as time with any novelty but its sincerity keeps it alive, notes Arjun Menon.
Sathyan Anthikad makes the same film, over and over again, and somehow finds ways to make the experience of watching each one different.
He is an auteur interested in the niceties of human interactions and is somehow content with 'teachable moments' in his films, filled with the coming-of-age journey of characters into caring, empathetic people who take charge of their destinies.
There are no emotional revelations or innate irony in his films that deal with serious issues with a lighter touch.
This brand of noble simplicity is what makes his films feel pleasant and easy to watch in these cynical times.
In Hridayapoorvam, the director tackles the themes of love that transcend ways in which your self-worth is not tied to how you see yourself, but rather how you contribute meaningfully to the ones around you.
Hridayaporvam is one of his better efforts in recent years, coming right after the underwhelming Makal.
This film, based on a story by his son Akhil Sathyan (also the director of Fahadh Faasil's Pachuvum Albhutha Vilakkum), is a plot that can be summed up in two sentences.
There is no narrative padding or unwanted digressions here.
The simple, brisk logline of a man who recently got out of an open-heart surgery coming out of his self-imposed shell is a straightforward summation of the film.
But Hridayapoorvam pushes along with a delightful charm that does not overbear the light drama.
Sandeep Balakrishnan (Mohanlal), an easily irritable, reclusive hotel owner, is recovering from heart transplant surgery.
He has a sidekick, the young male nurse Jerry (Sangeeth Prathap), whose only connection to the real world seems to be his mother's late-night calls pressuring him to get married to someone settled in Germany so that he can find work across the seas and pay off his debts.
The daughter of Colonel Nair (the deceased donor whose heart is currently in Sandeep's body) invites Sandeep to take a trip to Pune for her engagement ceremony.
The initially reluctant Sandeep is coerced into the journey.
The interactions with the daughter are weird, and you sense the daughter's love for her father being slowly transmitted to the stranger, who carries her father's heart inside him.
Sandeep is confused by her emotional efforts at keeping him in her orbit.
They take the trip, the engagement is called off, and now an injured Sandeep, recovering from a brawl at the ceremony, is forced to stay at the colonel's house with his wife and daughter until he is certified fit by the doctors to fly back to his hometown.
The characters start connecting with him. during his stay.
The initially aloof mother sees a better version of her emotionally distant, dead husband in the more attentive, kind stranger, who seems to understand her position when it comes to her disputes with her daughter, and is more empathetic towards her problems as a single mother.
The daughter, on the other hand, starts to form a strong bond with him and opens up about her deepest insecurities.
This is a complicated, dramatic situation, and any other filmmaker could have lost sense of the tonal high jinks of playing it seriously without undercutting the grief responses of the daughter and mother towards the loved one who is no more in their lives.
But Sathyan Anthikad expertly stages the awkward three-way interactions, emotional undercurrents, and humorous novelty of the conflict caused by the inherently funny dynamic.
Mohanlal is perfectly cast as the empathetic man dealing with a medical condition that has been chasing him around for years. The actor perfectly calibrates the playful, irreverent streak with the more serious notes of the screenplay.
Malavika Mohanan starts awkwardly, but midway finds her footing in the film.
Sangeetha Prathap is not given much to work with, but she plays the emotionally sealed-off mother with grace.
Siddique, as the manipulative brother-in-law, and Lalu Alex, as the witty friend, add to the laughs.
There is an old school sensitivity with which he addresses the grief and 'moving on with life' aspect of the family left to shambles by an unforeseen death.
Justin Pranbhakaran's songs enhance the script and add emotional weight.
The score is reflective of the emotions, and does not strain to manipulate your feelings.
Anu Moothedath's camera is subtle and captures the awkward energy of the interactions.
Sonu T P, the debut screenwriter, is in excellent control of the tonal segues in the screenplay that jump back and forth without relying on excessive melodrama.
The new lingo in the writing helps Sathyan Anthikad connect with a younger audience.
The playful dynamic between Sandeep and Jerry leads to some of the funniest bits in the film.
Sangeeth Prathap plays a self-aware, Gen Z audience here, calling out the film and its narrative whenever it falls into the overtly 'boomer' territory, and the writing uses him well to keep the seriousness of the situation at bay.
Sathyan Anthikad is aware of the risks associated with the sincere depictions of human follies and comedic representation of familiar tropes in this day and age, which can easily be misinterpreted as corny or old-school 'goodness'. So he uses Sangeeth as a tool to call out the film for its sheer simplicity and the ridiculous predicaments the lead characters are put through.
There are also a few unexpected cameos sprinkled throughout.
Hridayapoorvam does not break any new ground or tell a story as old as time with any novelty but its sincerity keeps it alive.
There are no outbursts or emotional manipulation, and the film just glides through.
A skewed retelling of the same template used in Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum, featuring a man forced to travel to an outside world, mend the relationship problems and come back a changed person, is also present here.
But in Hridayapoorvam, the sameness is overcome with the simplicity in its telling.
Sometimes films need not innovate, re-work, or break down cliches and tropes, but provide a good serving of the simple pleasures of familiar, stripped-down studies of human nature and how we all find our true place in the world.
Hridayapoorvam Review Rediff Rating: