Why I Rewatched Hridayam

I've been a connoisseur of movies and the one thing I look for is relatability. No idea why but that's the truth. Cinema is a form of art that has the ability to depict something with so much beauty and essence that it just touches your heart and pulls the right strings. Nowadays, especially after the pandemic, I've been looking for movies that may feel cool and breezy rather than being stressful and anxiety driven. Rewatching movie like YJHD, ZNMD, Dear Zindagi, Dil Chahta hai, etc have helped to cure my boredom but my search always continued. 

So in the search of this popular genre, I stumbled upon this movie called Hridayam which stars Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran. In no time, Hridayam took over the place of Premam in my heart and since then I have been patiently waiting to rewatch it. 

Many a times you watch a film and it makes you feel special and there is feeling of realization that hits you once you watch that film. But for that to happen, you may have to rewatch it at least once. Hridayam was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 18th Feb and I had no reason to avoid watching it on the first day of its OTT release. Honestly, I had a lot going on at that time and maybe that is why I was able to connect with Arun Neelakandan's character and relate to the story. 

The story is not unique but the way it has been presented seems fresh. It's the ubiquitous life of men which has been portrayed so beautifully by Pranav who has effortlessly depicted the changes in a man's life from age 17 when you're in your college days till the age of 30 when you're married and have a child. Not even for a single minute, the movie shows the struggles of being a man to make it feel like some kind of a sexist film and I feel the director never intended it to be perceived it in that format. 

Nevertheless, the director Vineeth Sreenivasan should take a bow for writing and directing  a masterpiece that is 172 minutes long but never felt tiring, boring, mediocre or unnecessary at any point. 

Mostly the problem with such movies is the ending and I feel if you can crack that then the movie becomes "rewatch" worthy. This film has resolved this issue with so much ease that it makes you wanna return to KC Tech (or whichever college you've been to) and visit certain places where you've had memories. 

I had a conversation with my close friend regarding this and it felt so surreal that a movie can actually bring back those good old days right from the memory lane. This is exactly what I like about art especially if it is cinema and music. It has the ability to make you reminisce those beautiful, nostalgic memories and in the end leaves you with a smile on your face or maybe tears of joy as well. 

Coming to the music, Darshana was the first song I heard from this film and my heart was set on finding my Darshana so I can sing this song to her. Arike Ninna comes 2nd and I really liked how they've created a strong rock based song to show the negative harmful side of a man who has gone through a breakup. Although, after I watched the film, I fell in love with almost all the songs namely Nagumo, Puthiyoru lokam, Minnalkodi and Onakka Munthiri. Special mention to Manasse Manasse as it is currently my favorite out of the the entire playlist. 

Hesham Abdul Wahab, you've created a heavenly set of songs and I could've never asked for such beautiful, pleasant songs from Malayalam industry. Thanks for helping me in updating my playlist :) 

Another special mention for the BGM in Nagumo especially the initial few seconds of the song where they've fused traditional Carnatic kinda music. Trust me once you hear it, your mind will play that tune with so much pizzazz. 

I feel everyone should watch this film at least once to understand the beautiful and intriguing life of Arun Neelakandan which is pretty common but enjoyable.  

One bad news got surfaced recently that Dharma productions has taken the remake rights for Hindi, Tamil and Telugu version of Hridayam. Honestly, I'm not upset but rather disappointed as my hopes with Bollywood in its entirety has been demolished and my faith in South Indian Cinema (Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu) is still intact. 

Now being a south Indian, I may be biased but the kind of entertainment that the south industry is releasing these days is fulfilling my palette of entertainment. What else can I ask  for right ?

Anyways, do watch Hridayam on Disney+ Hotstar and comment down your thoughts about the film.