3 / 5
Director G.N.R.Kumaravelan, who gave us movies like Ninaithale Inikkum and Yuvan Yuvathi, is back with Haridas, a movie which intends to be an ode to fatherhood. Kishore and Sneha lead the cast list along with support actors like Parotta Suri, Pradeep Rawat, Yuhi Sethu and Raj Kapoor. Prithviraj Das plays the ‘special child’ in focus.
Haridas is basically a tribute to parental love and sacrifice shown through the characters Sivadas, Haridas and Amruthavalli. Sivadas (Kishore) is a cop who is suddenly thrown into a position wherein he has to take care of his 10 year old son Haridas (Prithviraj Das), who has special needs. A teacher at Haridas’ school, Amruthavalli (Sneha) is specially drawn to Hari and she starts exhibiting motherly care and affection on the child.
As his police duties keep begging for his attention on one side, Sivadas is also hell-bent on somehow proving to the naysayers and pessimists that his son can also create a promising future for himself. Will Haridas find his calling, given his father’s relentless persistence on him?
First things first, the director ought to be patted on his back for taking such a sensible subject and delivering it in a convincing manner. That said, we also tend to feel that he could have eschewed the comedy portions and in particular the police-gangster action pitting Sivadas and his colleagues against a group of gangsters led by Aadhi (Pradeep Rawat). Though the scenes dedicated to the police work have also been seriously handled, it takes the focus away from the main plot about Sivadas’ struggles to raise his son.
The director has been aided in his vision majorly by cinematographer Rathnavelu. Each frame is picture-perfect, has a specific color template and has been well-planned and executed. Awesome work by the ace ‘Enthiran’ cinematographer. Vijay Antony’s involved background score lifts the emotional scenes but tends to become loud at times too. Among the songs, the ‘Police Gaana’ provides some light-hearted solace with the other tracks going along with the movie as montages.
Among the performers, it is Sneha who turns out on top with Kishore coming a close second. Sneha’s role is among the most dignified in recent times and the actress has put her heart and soul into the role. Her character’s motherly intentions will surely leave a lump in your throat. Kishore proves that he can emote well in the sober scenes too, as evidenced in that heart-wrenching scene in the rain with his son. The actor’s physique and manly charm gel with his police garb.
The kid, Prithviraj, who is being introduced with this film, is a Coimbatore based lad and he is really genuine in his reactions and gestures. You would root for him, all the way. Audiences always have a soft corner for underdogs and Haridas is no exception. His transformation has been shown in a very gradual and realistic manner. The director has shown where the kid’s interest lies in a metaphoric manner with support characters like Yuhi Sethu and Raj Kapoor playing their own crucial roles in the boy’s transformation.
Parotta Suri’s antics and attempts at romance, though half-funny, stand out from the movie though he fits in to the scheme of things well-enough towards the end.
In all, had the director just focused on the kid’s coming-of-age journey and his father’s efforts pertaining to the same, this could have been a memorable underdog movie also paying handsome tributes to parenthood. Still, one may excuse the director’s shifts in focus and the over- dramatization at instances, as the movie provides plenty of uplifting and heart-warming moments.
VERDICT: This subject needed more single-minded focus but it’s still turned out as a glowing tribute to parental love and sacrifice.
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