Hey! Sinamika

The film looks decent and refreshing. The whole script isn't anything new, but then the film was quite entertaining to me at least. It's in no way perfect, but then it's a good Rom Com I have seen in recent times.

The movie opens with Yaazhan (Dulquer Salmaan) and Mauna (Aditi Rao Hydari) sitting at a beach side restaurant, that's hit by a storm immediately after they share a glance of love. It's a brilliant metaphor to set the context of what follows in their relationship. The story of the love triangle is written by famous Tamil lyricist Madhan Karky, and it stars Dulquer Salmaan, Aditi Rao Hydari and Kajal Aggarwal. The film is directed by choreographer-turned-director Brinda and the music is composed by Govind Vasantha.

They soon exchange poetic pick-up lines and get married at the end of the first song. Even before you realise that the first song is over, comes the second, then the third and subsequently many more throughout the movie. We are constantly reminded that the film is reputed choreographer Brinda's directorial debut through song and dance sequences at regular intervals. They are good but just too many.

Coming back to the story, Yaazhan is a happy house husband who loves to cook healthy meals with produce from his backyard garden and is a chatterbox, living life one moment at a time, expressing his true self. Mauna, on the other hand, is an angry young woman who feels her personal boundaries are being violated by her clingy husband. To end this suffocating marriage, Mauna hunts for a "less painful" way to divorce her husband because she believes he is a good guy after all. And how does this happen? Experts would have told her to have a conversation like an adult with Yaazhan, but Mauna has some other idea altogether. She chooses to hire a psychologist Dr. Malarvizhi (Kajal Agarwal) to seduce her "nice husband" and use it as an excuse to walk out from the marriage. At that moment I only wanted to ask her - dear Mauna, why did you devise a divorce strategy that actually pins the blames on him if you genuinely don't want to hurt Yaazhan?

Every character in the film is well-defined, yet the reasoning for their behaviours is still a mystery. For instance, Mauna hates Yaazhan for being clingy and talkative and she is ready to go to any length to divorce him, but she suddenly wants him back when Malarvizhi is half way through her assignment that Mauna herself had requested.

While the answer to why Mauna hates her husband has been clearly established, there aren't enough reasons presented as to why she wants him back. The storyline then gets predictable, with Malarvizhi developing feelings for Yaazhan and the film falls under the typical template of how the two women start fighting over a man. What happens next? Who will Yaazhan choose at the end? You will have to watch the movie to know it.

'Hey Sinamika' aspires to be funny and sensitive while being mediocre at both. For instance, there is a scene where Yaazhan schools a bully during a function, who mocks him for wearing his wife's clothes. Just when you finish saying, "Wow, that was amazing!", a few scenes later Malarvizhi asks Mauna, "Is Yaazhan gay?" as an insulting joke.

Though the screenplay tries to repeatedly make you feel lost, the aesthetic beauty of the shots in the film pull you back to sit through it. The colour palettes used are a treat to the eyes. Kudos to cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman, art directors SS Moorthy and Senthil Raghavan, costume designers Archa Mehta and Khushbu Banerjee for this visual treat.

One of the few best things about the film is the refreshing feminist take on the male protagonist. Despite his flaws, Yaazhan organically helps a woman like Malarvizhi restore faith in men by going from "All men are cheats" to "Not all men".

Honestly, Hey Sinamika is a love story that you may not really love but just like.

Despite being directed by a woman, this rom-com was written by a man and it is glaringly obvious throughout the movie.

*Positive Points* The actors do a fantastic job. Aditi Rao is excellent as the mentally tortured wife. Dulquer Salmaan is so charming that he manages the admirable feat of making Yaazhan's character tolerable and even likeable at times.

Plus, nice camera work and aesthetics. Vibrant costumes and good music.

Breaking gender bias

• Yaazhan takes great pleasure in handling the house, dabbling in gardening and cooking, etc.

• In one scene, Yaazhan is shown going to a wedding in his wife's dress. He is shown as a secure man who feels no need to resort to male stereotypes to prove his worth as a man.

*Negative Points* This mainly just boils down to how the main lead is portrayed and subsequently the relationship. The movie is hellbent on painting Yaazhan as the ideal husband, and in contrast, Mouna is painted as a superficial and idiotic woman for not appreciating this stifling "love".

• Yaazhan is constantly talking and never listening. Mouna is never shown to express her opinion on anything, except how sick of Yaazhan's habits she is, which paints her as the bad guy.

• He is overbearing and intellectually domineering.

• He is constantly force-feeding her - either actual food or food for thoughts. Yaazhan has an opinion on everything, which he shares without being asked. But he never asks his wife how she feels on the subject.

• On the subject of food, he is always force-feeding her. Quite literally. For instance, there's a scene where he barges into the shower to feed her cake.

The ending is a mess.

• After a relatively brief separation that allows both Yaazhan and Mouna to take some distance and view their relationship with a pair of fresh eyes. They choose to recoil back into essentially the same routine instead of venting their frustrations and acknowledging areas of improvement within their relationship.

• The movie ends on the very frustrating note that they both decide to make ZERO changes to their very unhealthy and toxic dynamic.

First of all I can understand where most of the negative reviews are coming from, it's the hatred from the babas community.

Objectively speaking the movie is a run of the mill rom com but it's refreshing due to the fact that industry is littered with garbage and any decent movie seems feels like a breath of fresh air. Had a ha moment when I realized at the end of the movie that the director was a female, another reason that movie felt relaxed, simple, down to earth, and genuine.

The film suffers from a poor script and subpar execution.

However, the production values of the film are commendable, showcasing a good level of quality.

The cinematography is decent, capturing the visuals adequately.

In terms of performances, Aditi Rao shines with her portrayal, delivering a strong acting performance. Dulkar's performance is passable, while Kajal's performance leaves something to be desired.

The music in the film falls short of expectations, lacking the impact desired. On the other hand, the dance sequences are executed well.

Considering the overall flaws in the film, it would be advisable to skip this particular movie.