Hey Sinamika

Movie review by Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media
Sinamika

Common Sense says

age 10+

Woman plots to divorce husband; mild language.

NR 2022 150 minutes
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Kids say

age 2+

Based on 2 reviews

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  • Hey Sinamika Movie: Scene # 1
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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Hey Sinamika is an Indian dramedy about a woman who can't bear the sound of her talkative husband's voice for another second. She engages in an elaborate plot to get him to divorce her and then changes her mind. Language includes "hell," "damn," "ass," "crap," "screw," "twat," and "fart." A woman who has come to hate men recounts many instances of casual sexual harassment and abuse she has endured in the course of her normal life. A couple kiss and presumably have sex.

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What's the Story?

In HEY SINAMIKA, Mouna (Aditi Rao Hydari) is a self-confident weather scientist who falls for and marries Yaazhan (Dulquer Salmaan), a controlling know-it-all who can't stop talking or telling her what to do. Fully choreographed dancing and orchestrated singing break intermittently into the action. Yaazhan takes up all the oxygen in every room and corrects his wife's "mistaken" notions and constantly cooks and shovels food into her even when she says no. He claims he's just a great communicator, yet he rarely listens to her or her needs. She's soon driven mad by his nonstop monologues and seeks advice on how to get him to divorce her so she can be free. Although he defends his overbearing demeanor, at one point he admits that he knows it has prevented him from having any friends. Unable to communicate her displeasure, Mouna enlists friends to help. All Mouna's schemes to get away from him fail and, finally, to get a year of peace, Mouna accepts a work assignment that will split them up. Oblivious to his wife's displeasure, he shows up at her new place and takes over her life again. Desperate, Mouna hires a beautiful psychologist named Malar (Kajal Aggarwal) to seduce Yaazhan so that she can leave him without hurting him. Will this be enough to finally be free?

Is It Any Good?

Hey Sinamika's biggest problem is that the audience shares Mouna's distaste for the unbearable Yaazhan. Viewers may find themselves just as desperate as Mouna to escape Yaazhan, as well as this two-and-a-half-hour talk-fest. The man stops the poor milkman to engage in a monologue on "the logic of milk bottles." People run from him when they see him coming. The movie somehow tries to suggest that the insufferable Yaazhan is a great catch and that Mouna is problematic and faulty for not recognizing his greatness, a premise every living, breathing woman will reject outright.

Most frustrating is Mouna's continuing refusal to tell Yaazhan outright that she can't stand him and that she wants a divorce. This makes her pretty annoying, too. The movie is an hour too long at best, and it becomes only more ridiculous when, without any reason offered, Mouna changes her mind and wants the intolerable man back.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why people divorce. Did this couple have a good reason? Why, or why not?

  • Why do you think the wife changed her mind? Did you believe her turnabout? Why, or why not?

  • How does this compare to other romcoms you've seen?

Movie Details

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