‘Hi’ movie review: Kavin, Nayanthara anchor Vishnu Edavan’s old-school wholesome entertainer

Within the newest Tamil movie Hi, Kavin is Mayilsamy, a delicate man in Coimbatore who can not cover his vulnerabilities as simply. Seeing him unable to deal with a rejection, his household forcibly arranges a marital alliance for him. Mayil elopes to Chennai. Nayanthara performs Devayani, a younger Pollachi lady as sharp as a knife, whose irresponsible, drunkard father doesn’t see the problem in getting her married to an abusive man. On the day of her wedding ceremony, she elopes to Chennai.

When the 2 meet on a wet night, Mayil dons a translucent raincoat — which should additionally defend his coronary heart, damaged earlier below a pretend rain bathe. Devayani waves ‘hello’ to Mayil with a sickle in her hand, the one she introduced from house to defend herself in an unknown metropolis — she protects her coronary heart with thorns and sharp edges, having been repeatedly distressed by males.

He breaks simply. She holds herself along with all her may. He’s a Bhagyaraj-esque hero and a Rajinikanth fan, rejected for not being a Kamal Haasan in romance. She is an 80s Radikaa Sarathkumar-coded, spirited lady and a Kamal Haasan fan wanting an sincere life on her phrases. These are the straightforward and candy characters who anchor lyricist-filmmaker Vishnu Edavan’s Hello, a humble household entertainer about love, confronting fears, and dwelling with hope.

Bhagyaraj, Sathyan, Prabhu and Radikaa Sarathkumar in a nonetheless from ‘Hello’
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

Throughout pre-release promotions, director Vishnu repeatedly acknowledged he wished to make an old-school “Ok-TV comfort-watch” that filmmakers like KS Ravikumar, Vikraman, Visu, and V Sekhar constructed careers on. Whereas many comparable guarantees have gone awry up to now, Hello is exactly that quintessential consolation movie that Tamil cinema has been lacking for fairly a while. Movies on this explicit sub-genre function massive joint households, vibrant events, soulful songs, some good drama, and one easy twist that holds the one-liner.

Right here, the story kicks off when Mayil, in an instinctive transfer to save lots of the day, lies about his relationship with Devayani to their mother and father. Veteran actor Prabhu reminds us of why he’s known as Ilaya Thilagam in his position as Devayani’s father, who turned to alcohol when his spouse walked away many years in the past. Veteran Radikaa, who’s delivering a scene-stealing efficiency for the third consecutive Friday this month, performs Mayil’s mom. However the extra fascinating casting selection is late veteran Bhagyaraj as the daddy to a person who may remind many Tamil cinema followers of the 80s Bhagyaraj. These stalwarts, together with nice performances by the lead pair and very good supporting actors like Adithya Kathir, Khureshi, and Sathyan, make Hello one of the vital well-cast, well-performed movies of 2026.

I converse of performances first as a result of writer-director Vishnu appears to have relied on this casting to do the heavy lifting — and in movies which are virtually too breezy for present-day palettes, the high-pitched moments have to work in addition to in Hello. Take, for example, the scene wherein Bhagyaraj’s character should divulge heart’s contents to his depressed son, or an excellent scene wherein Prabhu realises what he had been lacking resulting from his alcoholism. Watch how Nayanthara emotes the various blended feelings she feels upon seeing her father flip over a brand new leaf. Kavin is definitely one of many few younger skills who may make you chortle and tug at your heartstrings in a brief span, and he aces virtually all his scenes.

I may go on and on, but it surely’s a pleasure to see such performers not used as mere tokens, however given characters with heft and actual objective within the story. The conviction the makers had on this faculty of cinema is obvious in how the movie by no means tries to punch above its weight. The stakes are stored low, and no pointless twists throw you off. After all, some scenes within the second half drag on. Some, like one which transpires in a resort’s powder room, felt too handy and poorly staged. Nonetheless, even by means of these boring stretches, one thing retains you invested, like some good previous humour and Jen Martin’s tastefully conceived songs.

A nonetheless from ‘Hello’
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

Even should you nitpick, Hello will persuade you to forgive it, for there’s actual effort to make a clear, sincere movie. Vishnu is a author who crosses his t’s. How does Devayani, a lady who grew up in such a low-income background, find yourself sporting such high-fashion garments? As a result of the pal (Amrutha Srinivasan) who helps Devayani in Chennai is a fancy dress designer. Why does Devayani take a while to grasp the load of the lie Mayil inadvertently thrust on her? As a result of she has internalised her hatred for her mom a lot that she understands the emotional stakes solely within the presence of one other mom (Mayil’s mom).

You may hear folks say how a lot they miss easy household entertainers you possibly can watch only for the pleasure of it. You probably have adopted the trade carefully, many stakeholders name good household entertainers an indication of the trade’s good well being. This movie proves all these sentiments. At one level, when Devayani tells Mayil, “Azhuvuradhu la enna aambala pombala? (What does crying should do with being a person or a girl?)”, each the masculine and female elements of me felt validated and heard. Solely good, sincere movies can do this. Most significantly, the late legendary Bhagyaraj sir could be proud to have Hello — a movie that pays tribute to his type of cinema — as certainly one of his final on-screen appearances. We miss you dearly, sir.

Hello is at the moment operating in theatres

Printed – August 28, 2026 03:33 pm IST