Movie: Hi Nanna
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Vyra Entertainments
Cast: Nani, Mrunal Thakur, Baby Kiara Khanna, Priyadarshi, Jayaram, Angan Bedi, and others
Music: Hesham Abdul Wahab
DOP: Sanu John Varghese
Editor: Praveen Antony
Production Designer: Avinash Kolla
Producers: Mohan Cherukuri and Dr. Vijender Reddy Teegala
Written and Directed by: Shouryuv
Release Date: Dec 07, 2023
The songs by Hesham Abdul and the trailer have garnered significant interest in "Hi Nanna," and Nani's confident promotion has also heightened anticipation. The film has now been released in theaters.
Let's determine whether the film lives up to the expectations set by the trailer.
Story:
Viraj (Nani) is a fashion photographer based in Mumbai and a single parent to Mahi, his 6-year-old daughter, who urgently needs a lung transplant due to the disease known as 65 roses.
One day, without informing her father, Mahi and their dog sneak out of the house. Yashna (Mrunal Thakur) rescues Mahi from a potential accident, leading to a friendship between the two.
As Yashna and Mahi learn about Viraj's account of Mahi's mother, he shares the story of their meeting, marriage, and her decision to leave him after Mahi was born.
Meanwhile, Yashna starts falling in love with Viraj. What happens later forms rest of the story.
Artistes’ Performances:
Nani portrays the role of a caring father, doing everything in his capacity to protect and shower his young daughter with love. His performance is exceptionally natural.
Mrunal Thakur, featuring in two different shades of a character, not only looks delightful in one but also delivers a convincing performance in the other.
Baby Kiara Khanna appears adorable in her role. Priyadarshi plays a stereotypical character, while Jayaram delivers an emotionally charged sequence in a crucial scene.
Shruti Haasan makes a guest appearance, which feels entirely frivolous and unnecessary.
Technical Excellence:
Hesham Abdul Wahab's music stands out as the main asset of the film. While the catchy song "Samayama" grabs attention, the other songs complement the theme effectively. The background score adds to the overall impact.
The cinematography and production design are commendable, contributing to the film's quality. Additionally, two or three dialogues make a memorable impact.
Highlights:
Hesham’s music
Couple of emotional moments
Drawback:
Dead Slow narration
Cliched and contrived twists
The dragged on final moments
Analysis
Nani portrays a father to a child in the new director's film "Hi Nanna," which is a mix of father-daughter drama and husband-wife drama. Despite having played fatherly roles before, this time is different as he is a single parent, and his daughter is ailing. For him, portraying roles that demand emotional depth comes more naturally than anything else, so it's not surprising.
The new director likely believed that characters imagining the story themselves in the parts narrated by the hero would be intriguing for the audience. Additionally, he thought the twist sides of the characters would help create a connection. While the twists are intriguing, they don't feel organic and seem forced.
Although the title refers to the father (Nanna), the story revolves around the daughter's attempt to locate or learn more about her mother. In reality, it's more of the mother's story than the father's. We witness the romantic track between Nani and Mrunal Thakur as the hero tries to unveil his wife's story to his daughter (a thread seemingly borrowed from a Hollywood movie Definitely, Maybe), lacking freshness and becoming somewhat tedious.
Fortunately, the interval sequence injects some excitement and sparks interest in the narrative.
However, the story and the film lose momentum after the intermission. With little story to build upon, the director adds numerous unnecessary elements, such as the "Odiyamma" song involving Shruti Haasan, introduces several characters, and includes situations like Mrunal's impending wedding, following a predictable path.
The additional twists in the second half prove to be ineffective. While the climax sequences evoke sentimental feelings, the final proceedings suffer from a dragged narration.
In conclusion, "Hi Nanna" falls short as a sentimental drama. The film would have been monotonous if not for the songs. Thankfully, the songs and a couple of touching scenes manage to sustain some interest. Apart from this, the performances of Nani and Mrunal Thakur kept engaging. This is a potential story to be made into a tightly packed, emotionally entertaining film, but the mistakes in narrative flow and the suboptimal utilization of actors marred the desired outcome. Slow narration and familiar sequences contribute to the negative aspects of the film, which otherwise would be a feel-good emotional treat.
Bottom line: Half baked emotion
