Little Hearts: A Misguided Attempt at Progressiveness

Little Hearts: A Misguided Attempt at Progressiveness

The struggle to handle sensitive topics in film

The sight of someone attempting to lift something too heavy for them to handle can be punishing for the onlookers. In Little Hearts, we get the not-so-pleasant spectacle of the makers attempting to bring in some progressive elements into an otherwise run-of-the-mill film without any big ambitions, and struggling to handle it and give it a proper resolution.

When someone genuinely feels about an issue, and wants to express it through a film or a book, the sincerity of their thoughts would shine through every pore of it, as it did in Jeo Baby’s Kaathalla last year. It contributed positively to the ongoing conversations around homosexuality. But when the intent is half-hearted, as it is often in advertisement films attempting to woo the progressive crowd, that becomes evident too.

One of the major threads that run through Little Hearts is the dilemma of a homosexual character in coming out to his family, who live in a rural village in the high ranges. But, this character is placed in a typical feel-good family drama, which also has compulsions to keep the audience entertained at regular intervals. So even when the film handles his dilemma sensitively, at other times it attempts to create a few laughs out of his sexual orientation.

One wishes filmmakers do not further muddle issues about which misconceptions are galore in the society, through their confused handling of them.

A rural village in the high ranges

The film fails to hold the audience’s attention until the introduction of the homosexual character, who in the end gets a kind of raw deal. The equation between the father-son duo, and the fun they have with each other, also saves the film at some points when it drags on aimlessly.

The struggle to balance progressive elements with entertainment

Initially, one song after the another is thrown at us, without much of a reason. The film’s inability to handle sensitive topics with care and sincerity is a major letdown.

A disappointing attempt at progressiveness

Little Hearts had the potential to contribute positively to the ongoing conversations around homosexuality, but it falls short due to its half-hearted attempt at handling sensitive topics.