Nowadays, Malayalam films are known for investigative thrillers, police procedurals, and serious cinema in general. However, in the 80s and 90s, one out of two Malayalam films was a slice-of-life comedy of the slapstick or situational type. Mohanlal featured in many of those films as the hero, with co-stars like Srinivasan playing active foil roles. Those films were super hits and, over time, became regarded as iconic. Sathyan Anthikad directed many of these films, such as Nadodikaatu, Pattanapravesam, and Varavelpu, and the duo of Sathyan Anthikad and Mohanlal ranks among the most successful Director-Star pairs in Malayalam cinema. Therefore, the expectations were obviously very high when the pair reunited after more than ten years. The trailer promised a typical Sathyan Anthikad genre of feel-good, light-hearted comedy reminiscent of some of his earlier hits, and at the outset, it manages to deliver.
Hridayapoorvam, meaning “From the heart”, has literally the heart at the centre of the story. The film opens with a sequence of a heart transplant being done, the recipient being Mohanlal, who lives in Kerala, and the donor, who lived in Pune. The story then explores comically if there is a change in heart with the recipient now that he has a different heart. Not just that, it also tries to determine, again comically, whether in matters of love, does the brain supersede the heart? The following events are funny, particularly in the first half, as the setting shifts from Kerala to Pune, where Lal travels to participate in a function and ends up staying put there for weeks.
Mohanlal is in proper form, playing the character with tremendous ease. As a master in comedy, he aces the situations with the right comic timing. However, for a supposedly comedy film, the comic instances are few and far between. Sangeeth Prathap, who comes as Lal’s assistant and nurse, provides able support and fills in for the comedy. Malvika Mohanan, as the donor’s daughter, has a solid role and does it impressively. For old time sake, actors like Lalu Alex, Janarthanan and Siddique are roped in as part of the cast, of which only Siddique manages to leave a mark, while others are pale shadows of their past.
Sathyan directed the film based on the story of his son, Akhil Sathyan, and the screenplay by Sonu Prasad. I must say that the story is novel and the screenplay is developed intelligently to suit the genre of feel-good, light-hearted comedy. The movie is indeed a feel-good one, but it feels stretched. The second half goes on and on without any material movement in the screenplay, by which time we can predict what will happen in the end. In a totally “Un-Sathyan Anthikad” style, some unreal masala elements are forced towards the end, which looks silly.
The film comes as a welcome return to the genre of slapstick comedies we all used to enjoy once upon a time. These days, even debutant directors who have not shown their style or calibre before put out their title card as “A so-and-so film”. It is to the credit of Sathyan Anthikad that even without putting his title card, one can easily identify his film as a Sathyan Anthikad film. Even today.
Hridayapoorvam is an Okay watch, which could have been a great one, but for the lagging second half. It is streaming now on Jio Hotstar.
AnandKumarRSonFilms 
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