Hara Hara Mahadevaki Movie Review

Language: Tamil

Director: Santhosh P Jayakumar

Cast: Gautham Karthik, Nikki Galrani

Hara Hara Mahadevaki, which advertises itself proudly as an adult comedy, opens with a politician who wants to become Chief Minister by bombing… something. I have to make a confession here. I am not going to be able to give you any specifics, for the writing is… Let me give you an example. To the two goons he's hired for the job ('Naan Kadavul' Rajendran in a Mohawk, Karunakaran in an Afro), the CM-wannabe says, "I'm not interested in your past. Only in the blast." I felt a fever coming. Is everyone going to talk in bad rhyme / Is that how I'm going to spend my time? No, it turns out. The hero owns a hearse / And things get much worse.

ALSO READ: BARADWAJ RANGAN'S REVIEW OF SPYDER

Yes. The hero (Hari, played by Gautham Karthik) runs a funeral service. What's so "adult comedy" about that, you ask? Erm. I guess the slang for a corpse is "stiff," and you know (wink, wink) what gets stiff in an "adult comedy." The writer-director, Santhosh P Jayakumar, is out to guide us through the regrettably little-seen-on-screen world of penis humour. A noble mission, no doubt. It isn't easy. It's… hard. If you think that's a lame joke, wait till you see the meet-cute between Hari and Ramya (Nikki Galrani). She's taking a dip in a temple pond. When she surfaces, she sees him naked. (Someone snatched his towel, in case you care.) We've heard of love at first sight. Perhaps this is love at first glans.

We began the movie with plans for an election. We're now in the vicinity of an erection. Hence the scene where the Rajendran character whips off his dhoti to prove to his childhood buddy that he's still anti-underwear. Hence Ramya's gifts to Hari. Not cards and chocolates, but underwear with Angry Birds images on the front, plus a trimmer for his pubes. (If nothing else, we are witnessing history: the first Tamil film to address manscaping.) Hence the second and third meetings between Hari and Ramya: at the gent's loo, and when he is peeing by the roadside. Hence the politician who attempts to hide a bottle of booze between his legs, after lying down and pulling a sheet over him, making the bottle look like… you got it!

ALSO READ: BARADWAJ RANGAN'S REVIEW OF VALLADESAM

Hence the snake. No, not that. Clean your mind with soap. I'm talking about an actual snake. I am all for adult humour, but the gags (verbal and visual) in Hara Hara Mahadevaki are neither adult nor humorous. (The title refers to the name of a honeymoon resort.) And to add to the woes, we get subplots that have nothing to do with penises, so I can't even crack cheap jokes about them. Like the long (and rather soft, it must be said) stretches about a little girl who is kidnapped and held hostage for ransom. These scenes keep going in and out, in and out, in and out of the film – there's no real thrust. The notion that there are any laughs to be found turns out to be a phallusy.