‘Hi’ movie review: Kavin, Nayanthara anchor Vishnu Edavan’s old-school wholesome entertainer
The Tamil film 'Hi', directed by Vishnu Edavan and starring Kavin and Nayanthara, is reviewed as a wholesome, old-school family entertainer. The film follows two individuals who elope to Chennai and find comfort in each other, aiming to revive the classic style of 90s Tamil family dramas.
Why it matters
It reflects the ongoing cultural interest in 'comfort cinema' and the nostalgia for traditional storytelling tropes in regional Indian film industries.
In the latest Tamil film Hi , Kavin is Mayilsamy, a sensitive man in Coimbatore who cannot hide his vulnerabilities as easily. Seeing him unable to cope with a rejection, his family forcibly arranges a marital alliance for him. Mayil elopes to Chennai. Nayanthara plays Devayani, a young Pollachi woman as sharp as a knife, whose irresponsible, drunkard father doesn’t see the issue in getting her married to an abusive man. On the day of her wedding, she elopes to Chennai.
When the two meet on a rainy evening, Mayil dons a translucent raincoat—which must also shield his heart, broken earlier under a fake rain shower. Devayani waves ‘hi’ to Mayil with a sickle in her hand, the one she brought from home to defend herself in an unknown city — she protects her heart with thorns and sharp edges, having been repeatedly distressed by men.
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