Haridas Review – A heart-warming tale

Bharath Vijayakumar

Director G.N.R. Kumarevalan’s Haridas is a noble effort to emphasize the importance and attention that need to be given to ‘special children’. It revolves around the beautiful relationship between a father and his autistic son. The film touches your heart and leaves your eyes moist as the curtains come down.

Haridas works well in all aspects. Firstly, despite its serious theme the movie is engaging. It has excellent performances from its cast. The message is effectively conveyed without being too preachy. The relationship between Kishore, the boy and Sneha is poetic. The climax is a stunner (though some may feel it is forced).  The director’s earlier films (Ninaithale Innikum and Yuvan Yuvathi) got mixed reviews. But, Haridas shows his true repertoire and let us hope he makes such movies more often. 

Plot

Shivadass (Kishore) is a tough and sincere police officer. He is a widower and his only son (Hari) is autistic. Shiva finds the going really tough when a psychiatrist (Yugi Sethu is delightful) reinforces confidence in him and says that Hari is only different from the rest and if guided properly his hidden talents can be unearthed. The movie follows two tracks in parallel. The beautiful bonding between the father and son on the one hand and the high octane hunt for a dreaded criminal by the police force on the other. The two tracks converge at the climax.

Cast

The entire cast of Haridas has done a commendable job. Kishore once again proves his mettle as a versatile actor. He is subtle even in the most draining emotional sequences. Haridas works to a large extent due to this man.  The young boy playing the autistic child gives an endearing performance that seems true to life. Sneha proves again that she is a capable actress given the opportunity. Haridas is definitely a movie that she can be proud of. Suri as the comic relief is quite adequate. Raj Kapoor in a small but significant role is absolutely brilliant.

Crew

Rathnavelu the man who captured big budget ventures such as Enthiran should be lauded for being a part of this small gem. Vijay Antony too has played his part and his musical score does not stick out yearning for attention. The two parallel storylines merge with ease thanks to Raja Muhammed’s seamless editing.

Downsides

A small blemish on a faultless surface would obviously stick out. What was the need to have the item number in such a film? Though not as crude as the songs in other films this surely should have been avoided. That too with supposedly sincere policemen dancing with the girl it surely leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Conclusion

Haridass is a noble venture with its heart at the right place. It is a film that deserves our utmost praise and wholehearted support. Watch it.

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