‘Hey Sinamika’ review: Dulquer Salmaan and Aditi Rao Hydari salvage this messy love triangle

Yaazhan (Dulquer) and Mouna (Aditi Rao Hydari) are a young, urban upper-class couple. He is a smart-looking software guy. And, she a paleotempestologist (Remember how some of you googled ‘conservation architect’ after O Kadhal Kanmani? Now, do the same for this.) Their intimacy, conflicts, and dialogues also remind us of Mani Ratnam characters. There is a cutesy scene wherein Yaazhan flirts with an okra as he misses his wife.

Even their first meeting happens in an unusual setting, like how Adi meets Tara when she tries to jump in front of a speeding train. Here, Yaazhan meets Mouna under a table when a storm hits a seaside rooftop cafe in Kochi . As people hurtle helter-skelter, the two share a shelter, getting to know each other. Within a few moments, they talk about getting together. Amidst a storm, their love blossoms.

All this sounds romantic on paper. One wonders if these characters, who are supposedly urban and well-read, would not prefer to get to know each other before getting into a relationship. 

A song, which fast-forwards two years after their first meeting, shows them getting married. Later, we are introduced to the conflict in their relationship.

We find that Yaazhan is similar to the Prakash Raj character in Santhosh Subramaniam. He likes to make her daily coffee and talk about its ingredients and preparation. He likes to make her an elaborate breakfast everyday and tell her the order in which she must eat the food. He calls her on the way to remind her of switching on the indicator. When they go on a drive, he tells her which AR Rahman song she must listen to. Without realising, Yaazhan smothers Mouna with his love.

We see Mouna finding Yaazhan insufferable. This incompatibility is treated comically for almost half of the film. For instance, we get a comedy sequence, wherein she is plotting with her colleagues a way to get divorced. And, Yaazhan seems like he is oblivious of his wife’s issues with him. 

The third main character, Malarvizhi (Kajal Agarwal) is introduced towards the end of the first half. Mouna asks Malarvizhi, a relationship counselor, to seduce her husband so she could divorce him for cheating on her. Malarvizhi, however, actually falls in love with him because Yaazhan disproves her belief that all men are “bad”. 

This rom-com about an incongruous couple abruptly turns into a tumultuous love triangle. And, it makes us question the emotional logic of the film and its principal characters, especially Mouna. Though the film establishes that she is possessive of him, we are not clearly told why she never talks about her issues with him. And, the resolution of this conflict is unsatisfactory as well. 

Despite the sudden shift in tone, Dulquer and Aditi’s performances make us empathise with their characters. Yaazhan reminds us of Dulquer’s smooth-talking character Aravind from Vaayai Moodi Pesavum. Unlike Aravind, however, not everyone is a fan of Yaazhan’s non-stop chatter. Aditi, especially in the second half, is excellent, portraying the chaos, pain, and realisation with Mouna.

Even the relationship in O Kadhal Kanmani begins with a sense of frivolity and gets serious. The seamlessness with which it happens, however, is lacking in Hey Sinamika.

‘Hey Sinamika’ is running in theatres