Hridpindo review: Another love triangle tale with a ludicrous premise

In Sheiladitya Moulik’s Hridpindo, biology professor Arya (Arpita Chatterjee), who is beloved by her students, gets bullied by a boy in the class. Later, when she is followed by him, she gets panicked and meets with an accident, which temporarily erases her memory of the past 20 years.

Arya regresses into her teenage self and only has recollections of her childhood sweetheart Wrick (Prantik Banerjee). While her husband Shomok (Saheb Chatterjee) and father help her recover, Wrick learns of the accident and Arya's condition. With the hope of rekindling their bond, despite being aware of her marital status, he starts meeting Arya.

When Shomok finds out that Arya has been reciprocating Wrick’s feelings in her innocence, he is heartbroken but continues to take care of her. The rest of the story unfolds gradually and predictably.

Hridpindo contains the trope of a woman who is unable to get over her first love from whom she was estranged against her will due to an arranged marriage.

In the beginning, both Arya’s father and Shomok do not seem devastated in the least by her loss of memory. Instead, her father delights in the fact that he can scold her as he used to in her childhood. Both of them only begin to feel miserable when Wrick intrudes into their life.

While Arya, Shomok and Wrick experience heartbreak at some point in their respective journeys, the latter’s narrative doesn’t evoke empathy. In order to lend Shomok saintliness, Wrick is turned into a villain.

Arpita Chatterjee goes overboard in her portrayal of Arya’s teenage self. Also, for some reason, she behaves like a nag after the mishap even though the childhood version of the character, who is seen in flashbacks, doesn't possess this trait.

Banerjee’s character is by far the most problematic, sleeping with a woman after learning about Arya’s marriage with Shomok and upsetting the couple's marital life out of disregard for Shomok.

Saheb Chatterjee has done a decent job while emoting the pain of someone who has lost the love of his life and is hopeful about reuniting with her.

The film has been well shot by Souvik Basu in serene spots. Ranajoy Bhattacharjee's songs are pleasing to the ear.

Sanglap Bhowmick has tried to conceal the hollow storyline with his impressive editing, but Hridpindo is laden with ridiculous moments and maudlin cliches. It doesn't celebrate love either.