Hridayanthar (Mar)

Producers: Young Berry Entertainment, Imtiaz Khatri and Vikram Phadnis Productions
Director: Vikram Phadnis
Mukta Barve, Subodh Bhave, Trunishka Shinde, Nishtha Vaidya, Sonali Khare
Genre: Drama
Rating: **1/2

Heart-wrenching!

The story revolves around Shekhar (Subodh Bhave) and Samaira (Mukta Barve) who have hit a rough patch in their marriage of 12 years. Shekhar, a workaholic, doesn’t have time to spare for his wife Samaira and their daughters Nitya (Trunishka Shinde) and Nysha (Nishtha Vaidya). Samaira manages her work and home effectively but the growing ideological differenbces between the couple eventually leads them to contemplate taking a divorce. Their elder daughter Nitya is diagnosed with leukaemia and the family’s world turns upside down. Shekhar and Samaira rekindle their relationship, with most help coming from Nitya.

The Plus Points:
There are some genuinely touchy scenes in the film , especially the ones involving Shekhar and Nitya. Mukta, as always, is brilliant and Subodh is 100% convincing. The supporting cast is sincere especially the child star Trunishka Shinde and Sonali Khare., who plays the role of the marriage counsellor who is ironically a divorcvee and falls for every available man

The Minus Points:
There’s the right emotional connect that Hrudayantar establishes. Vikram Phadnis’ maiden directorial debut appears to be a sincere and honest effort of sorts. But you wonder whether he set out to make a film about the little girl battling cancer or about Shekhar and Samaira trying to reconnect.

The Verdict:
Hrithik Roshan does a small little cameo as his characatewr Krrish and speaks a lot through his expressions. All in all, Hrudayantar is a good but unfortunately a wee bit predictable film that leaves you with mixed feelings.

-Jyothi Venkatesh