Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye follows the story of a young married woman working as a counsellor at a facility for terminally ill patients, who forms an unlikely bond with a man who is on the last leg of his life. The story is a gentle tear-jerker while communicating the softness in the drama through meditative poetry that tactfully enters your heart before shattering it in a million pieces. It was last year that I had watched one of my favourite Hindi language films Three Of Us that made for a painfully aching watch with one of the characters steadily losing her memory, this drama is a little in the same zone with its protagonist fighting a losing battle with his illness. And that is what invariably brings out the emotions while watching this quietly poignant drama. The screenplay standing at a little under a 100 minutes is taut, however I would have liked it to be extended by 10 odd minutes to give more screen time to the character of Aniketh who is often shown through the lens of the character of Prerana. 

The drama opens with the introduction of the protagonist, Prerana who is living a quiet mundane life as a counsellor at a facility for terminally ill patients while slowly falling out of love with her disinterested husband. Right from the beginning, the tone of the drama is set right wherein the viewers are prepared well in advance that this is going to be a quiet tear-jerker. So as a part of the buildup, you are briefly acquainted with the terminally ill patients along with a few other characters in what is a blanket of sorrow filled with pain and darkness. This sentiment is accentuated with the introduction of the character of Aniketh, a mysterious man who suddenly lands up at the facility center with whom, Prerana would slowly form an unlikely bond. 

The proceedings are soft and gentle while slowly embracing you with a set of emotions that it chooses to build on as opposed to shedding them instantly. Some relationships are special with strangers, a little more than friendship and a little less than being romantically involved, and this thin thread is quite nicely explored through the course of the drama between the characters of Prerana and Aniketh. However, the emotions could have been a little better developed in the minds of the viewers had the character of Aniketh been given a little more screen time for the viewers to invest in him. A little back story or even his traits other than writing poetry could have been a little more pronounced to give his character a little arc which would have elevated the emotional quotient of the film. 

The beats of the drama are predictable but sincere with its tonality that includes a little subplots involving the character of the helper and the mother who add to the earnestness of the drama. The writers do well in utilizing nature as a source for poetry really well. The events leading up to the final act are familiar with its beats but the philosophical take on life communicated through heartfelt poetry is what is the highlight here while the emotions do get the better of you at the end. The final act is heartbreaking yet meditative in many ways summing up a well written screenplay which is gentle on the emotions while adding a touch of poetry to the melancholic atmospherics of the drama.