Little Hearts review: A madcap comedy that hits the right notes

If dealing with a drill sergeant of a dad at home (Rajeev Kanakala) is one major hurdle for Akhil, getting past Madhu’s comical cynicism is just as gruelling a task that the bumbling 18-year-old needs to take on at every turn of life. It helps that Akhil is the eternal optimist, in contrast, whose will never bend and whose mood never dips, and that Madhu, for all his shortcomings, is the chosen guy willing to walk the extra mile for him – be it in partnering him for the painful BTech coaching, or to beg a girl to forgive his daft friend.

So, as much as Akhil’s and Khathyayani’s puppy romance takes centre stage in Sai Marthand’s Little Hearts, the film ends up being much more than the two lovers’ union. It is about a specific time period, in that the year 2015 marks an interesting bridge between former traditions and future beckonings. It is about misfits sticking together, with how Akhil’s supposed loser/average life is reappraised endearingly by a fellow loser/average life. It is also about a subtle transformation in a boy, who grows up enough to choose what’s right for him, and realises that beauty is only skin deep.

Well, this kind of pedantic analysis might seem unwarranted for a film that is so delightfully self-aware, but just as Akhil, Khathyayani, Madhu, Aashish and others, Little Hearts too boasts depth that isn’t seen at first glance.

And that is because the film only strives to entertain us, and it does only that for its neat duration of 127 minutes. The jokes start rolling from the word go; the gags are kept in perfect check to never drop the beat; and each character that comes our way is precisely trained to put fun on the screen, and nothing else. If Akhil’s parents (with well-known TV and film actor Anitha Chowdary playing his mom) have their own share of jinks for us, his kid brother Nikhil isn’t ever short of funny business either. Khathyayani’s father (a hilarious SS Kanchi), too, might be a bit of a tyrant on paper, but he lights up the screen every time he shows up, just as each bit player does throughout. Still, at the end of it all, one is likely to walk away from the cinema hall remembering Jai Krishna’s crackling run as Madhu, with his breakneck dialogue delivery and superb comic timing.

Even Sinjith Yerramilli’s soundtrack adds a layer of humour of its own, with songs such as “Chaduvu Ledu”, “Rajagadiki” and “Khathyayani” (a sort of an ad-hoc number that elevates the film) aiding the film in maintaining its energy and rhythm. Sreedhar Sompally’s editing must receive a mention as well, for how it navigates the plot without making it seem chaotic at any point.

Little Hearts also enunciates the extent of Telugu cinema’s widening talent pool, particularly the one emerging from the web. If the likes of ‘Viva’ Harsha, Naveen Polisetty and Suhas have paved the way over the years, Mouli Tanuj Prasanth, a YouTuber until recently, has joined in on the trend that is, even inadvertently so, subtly pivoting the industry’s norms. With many more capable artistes on the horizon, including a number of female actors, writers and content creators, the possibility of the ecosystem growing more vibrant shines, allowing stories of diversity to find bigger platforms.

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As far as Sai Marthand’s film is concerned, its merit lies in the fact that, despite being a story told entirely from a boy’s coming-of-age lens, it never makes the women feel perfunctory. Shivani Nagaram, as Khathyayani, might not be the most important character in the film, but it feels liberated nevertheless, in how she isn’t burdened with being the ‘voice of reason’ in a world of boys. Just as Akhil falls in love with her greasy French plait (even though she hates it), the film too nudges us gently to forget external noise and find comfort in what matters the most. Could the film have challenged itself a little? Perhaps, yes, but this is such silly, jolly good fun that the shortcomings could easily be overlooked.

Little Hearts movie cast: Mouli Tanuj Prashanth, Shivani Nagaram, Rajeev Kanakala, SS Kanchi, Anitha Chowdary, Sathya Krishnan
Little Hearts movie director: Sai Marthand
Little Hearts movie rating: 3.5 stars