When you look at the interval block of the new Malayalam film Little Hearts, you might get a feeling that it might deliver that Ayushmann Khurrana-type middle-class socially relevant comedy against the backdrop of the rural Kerala village. But when it reaches the second half, the movie acts like Bindu Panicker in CID Moosa, who was so confused about what to collect when she was evacuating. The multiple subplots, how it was trying to make things funny frequently, etc., make Little Hearts extremely uneven. And by the time it reaches the happy ending, you will realize that all the seemingly risky inclusions have been avoided very conveniently.
The movie is primarily about this father-son duo, Baby and Sibi. Baby’s wife died long back when Sibi was young, and these two are really close to each other. Baby now has a very active relationship with his childhood love Sicily, whose husband went absconding 7 years ago. Sosha is the best friend of Sibi, and she loves him. To this complicated love equation comes Sosha’s brother from England. How that entry changes the dynamic in all the equations is what we see in Little Hearts.
SPOILER ALERT!! So some of you may have heard the information that the GCC release of this movie has been banned, and the reason is the LGBTQI+ content in the film. So like I said in the beginning, when the movie reaches the interval point revealing that one of the key characters is gay, you feel that the generic humor you saw till that point would make way for something new. And if you look at it, a gay relationship getting a positive depiction in a typical comedy entertainer is catchy. But the script, written by Rajesh Pinnadan based on the story by Anto Jose Pereira and Aby Treesa Paul, is struggling to handle the multiple tracks it had created till that point.
Anto Jose Pereira and Aby Treesa Paul, who previously made Member Rameshan 9am Ward, are actually repeating a similar flavor in Little Hearts too. The romance of a 56-year-old man, how a gay romance gets discussed in a very orthodox community etc., are giving this story a sense of relevance and excitement on paper. But like I already said, the movie is not confident in exploring these themes. There is a scene where Sicily screams at her daughter, saying how this relationship is essential for her. It was the most practical and heartfelt scene in the whole movie. Every other track that becomes a convolution for the sake of comedy is just lengthening the film without any significant contribution. And the whole gay romance thing gets explored on a peripheral level.
Shane Nigam is trying to get out of the angry and moody young man image with this film. Even though his performance is not that bad, the timing of certain scenes where he has to act in an animated way makes the performance look odd. After a major fallout scene featuring Shane, Baburaj, and Renji Panicker, you get to see a very comical breakup scene featuring Shane and Mahima, and the scene itself feels a bit awkward. Baburaj, as the father, gets to do the comical stuff he has been doing ever since Salt n Pepper. Mahima Nambiar as Sosha feels more like a casting choice due to the success of RDX rather than the scope to perform. Shine Tom Chacko’s role is pretty minimal, and the character is diametrically opposite to the Shine we saw during the promotional interviews. Ramya Suvi performed really well as Baby’s love interest.
Clocking at 134 minutes, I wouldn’t say Little Hearts is a boring movie. There is an agility in the pacing of the film that makes it passable. It’s the kind of movie that one might skim through while having lunch. The unnecessary complications in the second half and the deliberate effort to make each scene look funny make it look like a film that pleads with the audience to give it a passable entertainer tag. Rather than some scattered moments of giggles, there isn’t much here to rejoice about after the watch.
Rather than some scattered moments of giggles, there isn't much here to rejoice about after the watch.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
