College days are always special, and the friends and memories you make in this period often remain in your life forever. With loads of such sweet memories of college life comes Vineeth Srinivasan's Hridayam. Starring Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran in leading roles, the movie is a coming-of-age drama.
Hridayam follows Pranav Mohanlal's Arun from the moment he joins KCG College of Technology in Chennai in his 30s. The 171-minute movie is from Arun's perspective as he lives through key college moments including ragging from seniors, clearing arrears, and falling in love. The journey that he is on to discover satisfaction and passion in life forms the crux of the film.
Like its name, Hridayam had a lot of heart in it and it's not surprising considering how Sreenivasan sought inspiration from his own college experience and that of his friends. It is this quality that makes the film such a treat. With a nostalgic vibe, the film will transport you to your college days, leaving you with a desire to revisit your alma mater and your college mates.
A lot of credits for this goes to Viswajith Odukkathil's cinematography that captures each moment from the perspective of the person experiencing them.
Hesham Abdul Wahab's music just accentuates the movie's wistful and feel-good quality. With soul-soothing numbers like Bas Kar Ji and Nagini, the movie's soundtrack is a feast to listen to. However, at some point, there are just too many songs in the movie, which could potentially affect the viewing experience.
Technical aspects aside, what holds a relatively long movie like Hridayam are the central characters. Sreenivasan has done a splendid job in the characterisation of Arun, Darshana, Arun's friends, and Nithya. The respective actors then do their bit to make each character memorable.
In Hridayam, Vineeth Srinivasan does what he is best at: recreating the early 2000s through a coming-of-age story. However, the movie could have saved precious minutes by chopping down on certain unimportant songs and sequences that simply felt like a drag.
Nevertheless, Hridayam is a refreshing movie, one that will make you nostalgic for your college days and maybe even make you fall in love with Chennai. And in the process pull you into its world and away from reality throughout its runtime.