Chithha

2023 Indian drama film

  • Siddharth
  • Nimisha Sajayan
  • Anjali Nair
CinematographyBalaji SubramanyamEdited bySuresh A. PrasadMusic by
  • Songs:
  • Dhibu Ninan Thomas
  • Santhosh Narayanan
  • Score:
  • Vishal Chandrashekhar
Production
company
Etaki Entertainment
Distributed byRed Giant Movies
Release date
  • 28 September 2023 (2023-09-28)
Running time
139 minutes[1]CountryIndiaLanguageTamil

Chithha (transl. Uncle-Father's younger brother)[a] is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film[1] written and directed by S. U. Arun Kumar and produced by Siddharth, who stars in the lead role alongside Nimisha Sajayan (in her Tamil debut), and Anjali Nair in addition to Baby Sahasra Shree and Baby S. Aafiyah Tasneem in the prominent roles. The film revolves around the relationship between a paternal uncle and his niece which goes through several circumstances after the latter goes missing.

Kumar developed the story idea after he came across articles revolving around child sexual abuse and met with survivors of child abuse, government officials and NGos to provide their feedback based on his ideas before finalizing the script. The film was shot in and around Palani for 69 days. The cinematography was handled by Balaji Subramanyam and edited by Suresh A. Prasad. Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Santhosh Narayanan composed the soundtrack, while Vishal Chandrashekhar composed the film score.

Chithha was released theatrically on 29 September 2023 to critical acclaim with praise for the performances, storytelling, direction and themes, and became a commercial success at the box office. At the 69th Filmfare Awards South, the film won seven awards including Best Film – Tamil.

Plot

Eeswaran is a government employee from Palani who bonds with his eight-year old niece Sundari and is quite protective of her. Eeswaran also has a couple of close friends, one of whom happens to be an undercover cop named Vadivelu, whose niece Ponni is good friends with Sundari. Unable to comprehend her elder sister’s romantic conversation with her boyfriend, Ponni assumes that a bevy of deer is present in a forest area close to the school and asks Sundari if she would be interested in going to see the animals after school.

The two girls plan to leave Eeswaran and head to the area on their own. Ponni and Sundari board an auto rikshaw to the area as per the plan, but Sundari gets scared and leaves Ponni, who goes alone to see the area. The next day, Ponni's father accuses Eeswaran of assaulting Ponni, but Vadivelu finds that Eeswaran is innocent and apologises to him.

One day, due to ongoing pressure and doubts about him from his sister-in-law, Eeswaran angrily walks away from home. Sundari tries to run behind him, but gets kidnapped by a notorious pedophile. Eeswaran sets out on a crusade to save Sundari, where she is finally saved and admit her to the hospital after being sexually abused by the pedophile.

Eeswaran finds out that the police have captured the culprit, but it turns out that the culprit is actually Ponni's abuser, who was the auto rickshaw driver. He gets stabbed by Eeswaran using a glass stuck knife. Eeswaran's girlfriend, Shakti, shares her tragic past of being assaulted and asks him to forget about his vengeance. Eeswaran agrees and takes care of Sundari.

A year later, the police find a burnt corpse of the pedophile, implying that Eeswaran had learned about the pedophile's true identity and killed him.

Cast

  • Siddharth as Eeswaran alias Eesu: Sundari's uncle (Chithha)
  • Nimisha Sajayan as Shakthi: Eeswaran's love interest
  • Anjali Nair as Sundari's mother and Eeswaran's sister-in-law
  • Baby Sahasra Shree as Sundari "Settai": Eeswaran's niece
  • Baby S. Aafiyah Tasneem as Ponni: Sundari's friend
  • Baalaji S. U. as SI Vadivel: Eeswaran and Sakthi's friend; Ponni's uncle
  • R. Dharshan as the pedophile
  • R. Suresh as Suresh: Eeswaran, Vadivel and Sakthi's friend
  • Natturaja Durai as CI N. Dhivakar
  • Sindhuja Viji as Ponni's mother
  • Saleth Santhosh in a Cameo role
  • Jhansi Rangaraj as Police Officer

Production

Development and writing

Director S. U. Arun Kumar and actor Siddharth initially planned to collaborate on a film after the former's debut Pannaiyarum Padminiyum (2014) which did not materialize. In late-2019, post the release of Sindhubaadh (2019), Kumar developed a story idea for six months and eventually met Siddharth for a potential project.[3] However, it was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India, during which he thought on how he should execute his ideas perfectly. Kumar, then did a course on editing and screenwriting so that he could build a thesis on writing a cohesive screenplay.[4]

The idea of the film derived from his experiences as he learnt across several incidents of child sexual abuse through newspapers and articles. Based on that, he wrote a novel titled Kolkata Days which was about Suryanelli rape case that happened in 1996.[5] Those experiences eventually led him to develop the themes and ideas for this film. He researched across several incidents regarding child sexual abuses happened in real life and met police offers, NGO members and survivors of child sexual abuse.[6] Based on the extensive research, he drafted 440 pages of the story idea and condensed it to 220 pages after rewrites; the script was then read by his team and their family members.

"I produced and acted in Chithha because when I read the script and saw what we were making, it made me feel something. I thought that if I could make the whole audience feel that, it would be a very important film. It works in any language because when you see it, you will see it as a human being and not as someone from a particular place or having a certain mother tongue. If the makers do it properly, then the writing takes over."

— Siddharth[4]

Besides acting in the lead role, Siddharth also produced the film under his Etaki Entertainment banner.[7] On 17 April 2022, the film's project was announced under the tentative title Production No. 4 referring to the company's fourth production venture.[8] The film's title Chithha was announced in April 2023.[9][10]

Casting and filming

According to Kumar, "if the casting is right 80 per cent of the work is done".[4] Nimisha Sajayan was cast in the film as the first choice for Kumar; she went to Chennai for the story narration and impressed by it, she immediately agreed to be part of the film, as "Be it the character or the film, I felt it is something that has to come out in today’s times."[11]

For the role of Sundari and Ponni, Kumar auditioned numerous child artists back-to-back before finalizing Baby Sahasra Shree and S. Aafiyah Tasneem for their roles. Both actors were being a part of theatre training and performance workshops.[10] Most of the artists featured in the film were newcomers, few of them were not in the industry background which led Kumar and his team conducting workshops to prepare for their roles.[6] Rajesh Balachandran served as the acting coach.[6]

The principal crew consisted of music composers Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Vishal Chandrashekhar, cinematographer Balaji Subramanyam, an assistant of Vijay Kartik Kannan, editor Suresh A. Prasad and art director C. S. Balachander, who worked with Kumar in Pannaiyarum Padminiyum (2014) and Sethupathi (2016).[3] Chithha was shot predominantly in and around Palani.[12] The film's production was held for nearly 69 days before concluding in April 2023.[13]

Themes

Chithha revolves around the relationship between the paternal uncle and his niece which was rare in Tamil cinema, as most films explored the maternal uncle's relationship.[3] However, unlike being done in a melodramatic way, Kumar wanted to unfold the relationship drama into a thriller which was the main plot.[3] Kumar revealed that the film revolves around child safety, which he thought that "before I began writing the script, the first line I wrote was that if I had a girl child, Chithha should be a film that the two of us could watch together. That was the rule."[7]

Kumar did not want to portray the abuse from the perpetrator's point of view as it would become uncomfortable for the actor after looking back at the film years later. Instead he wanted to treat the subject in the most sensitive manner.[7] He wanted the kids to watch the film and learn about it, knowing the fact that the film would be U/A certified.[7] The finished film was showcased to psychiatrists, survivors of sexual abuse, NGO members and others in the legal jurisdiction system, who approved the film as Kumar did not want to release a film that was problematic in any way in the excuse of cinematic liberty.[6]

Kumar did not mention the usage of words like rape and abuse throughout the film, except for two instances: one scene in which the two characters inquire to the police officer about the incident, and the other which happens in the court. He did not want the term to be used when it was about kids.[7] Sajayan's character Sakthi, is a sanitation worker which Kumar had chosen, as he was also making a film that featured the sanitation department in the background and "metaphorically the young Sundari has only grown to become Sakthi. Her identity is not that of a rape survivor but a sanitation worker. And no job is inferior. I wanted to put that out there."[7]

Kumar did not want Siddharth's character to take revenge against the pedophile as an heroic act, as according to him, "anybody who helps others or sacrifices is a hero."[7] He said that the film ends with Eeswaran and Sundari on the hospital bed. But he added a couple of scenes, one of is Sundari after the incident as "her identity did not lie in the hospital bed, but with a smile".[7] Another sequence revolved around the two policemen finding the burnt body of a kidnapper. Regarding this scene, Kumar added:[7]

"I had this scene because when the audience walks out of the theatre, they shouldn’t think that a kidnapper could roam freely, and all that they can do is keep their kids always within their view [...] The murder is not done by Siddharth because then the whole film would be wrong. That is why the police officer says that it could be anyone and that all that matters is the kidnapper being dead. It could’ve even been an accident."[7]

Music

The songs for the film were composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Santhosh Narayanan,[14][15] while the background score was composed by Vishal Chandrashekhar.

Release

The film's first look was released by actor Kamal Haasan in April 2023.[16][9] In August 2023, it was announced that the film would be released theatrically on 28 September 2023,[17] with Red Giant Movies distributing the film across Tamil Nadu.[18] Chithha was released alongside Chandramukhi 2 and Iraivan on the same date.[19] It was released in Telugu as Chinna, Malayalam as Chitta and in Kannada as Chikku.

Chithha was showcased to school students across various parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.[20] The film's promotions for the Kannada version in Bangalore was interrupted due to threats from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike protesters over the Kaveri River water dispute.[21][22] Prakash Raj and Shiva Rajkumar apologized to Siddharth on behalf of the protestors.[23][24] The film was not simultaneously released in Telugu along with its Tamil and Kannada versions.[25] After Daggubati Suresh Babu's Asian Cinemas acquired the distribution rights for its Telugu version, it was released in theatres across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on 6 October.[26]

Chithha opened in limited theatres across Tamil Nadu, but following the word of mouth, the film's shows and screens were increased.[27] Within the end of the five-day weekend, the film collected ₹11.5 crore (US$1.4 million) at the box office.[28][29] At the end of the film's theatrical run, the film earned ₹50 crore (US$6.0 million) in its lifetime.[30] The film's streaming rights were acquired by Disney+ Hotstar which premiered it on 28 November 2023, two months after its theatrical release.[31] Chithha was showcased at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne held from 15–25 August 2024.[32]

Reception

Chithha received critical acclaim from critics with praise directed on the performances, screenwriting, direction and themes.[33] Several publications ranked the film as one of the "best Tamil films of 2023".[b]

In a four-star rating, Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express called it as "a sensitive, powerful film that breaks conventional rules of heroism."[40] M. Suganth of The Times of India also gave four stars with and wrote "There are also a couple of tender moments amidst all the grimness. A survivor rushing towards a character and giving a hug, and a scene between two friends who have undergone a shared experience forging a stronger bond. It is such profound moments that elevate Chithha into something vital in these times."[41] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express also assigned the same rating, summarizing it as "Chithha is one of those rare amalgamations of everything perfect."[42] Purushothaman also praised Siddharth's performance calling it as "[his] best performance by far" and also the supporting actors for their "stand out" performances.[42] K. Janani of India Today gave three-and-a-half stars and wrote "'Chithha' is a much-needed film with a solid message. This is truly a hard-watch but will leave with a good afterthought."[2]

Thinkal Menon of OTTPlay also gave three-and-a-half stars and wrote "Chithha is one of the must-watch films of the year, thanks to the terrific performances from lead actors, intriguing screenplay and the originality with which a sensitive subject is handled."[43] Rajasekar S. of The Federal called it as a "must-watch for its message, exemplary writing and performances."[44] Krishna Selvaseelan of the Tamil Guardian gave three-and-a-half stars and said the film "tears out the viewer's heart and holds it ransom – an impressive feat".[45] Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Handling the sensitive issue of child sexual abuse with care, Chithha marks a befitting resurgence for both its director S. U. Arun Kumar and lead actor Siddharth."[46] Harshini S. V. of Film Companion South called Siddharth's role as his "most affecting performance till date [...] The actor makes it possible for us to go beyond his expressive eyes and get into his head."[47] Akchayaa Rajkumar of The News Minute assigned four out of five and wrote "Chithha is a necessary watch and a masterclass on how movies on child sexual assault can be sensitive and engaging without constantly triggering the audience."[48]

Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, Aishwarya Rajesh, Nayanthara and Silambarasan praised the film for its performances and storytelling.[c] Director Halitha Shameem described it as "the film of the year".[53]

Awards and nominations

Year Cermony Category Nominees Result Ref.
2023 Filmfare Awards South Best Film Siddharth Won [54]
Best Actor Nominated
Best Actor (Critics) Won
Best Actress Nimisha Sajayan Won
Best Director S. U. Arun Kumar Won
Best Supporting Actress Anjali Nair Won
Best Music Director Santhosh Narayanan, Dhibu Ninan Thomas Won
Best Singer (Male) Santhosh Narayanan Nominated
Best Singer (Female) Karthika Vaidyanathan Won

Notes

  1. ^ The title is short for Chithappa.[2]
  2. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[34][35][36][37][38][39]
  3. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[49][50][51][52]

References

  1. ^ a b "Chithha". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 25 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023. A distraught family search for a missing young girl after a spate of horrifying attacks in this Tamil language drama, which contains disturbing themes around the sexual abuse, mutilation and murder of children.
  2. ^ a b "'Chithha' Review: Siddharth, Arun Kumar's take on sensitive issue is a lesson to many". India Today. 26 September 2023. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Siddharth's 'Chithha' with director Arun Kumar explores the chithappa relationship". The Times of India. 17 April 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b c K., Janani (26 September 2023). "'Chithha' director SU Arun Kumar: I want to create silence in theatre with this film". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Here's why director Arun Kumar made 'Chithha' with Siddharth". The Times of India. 6 October 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d J. Rao, Subash (10 December 2023). "Siddharth & SU Arun Kumar On Making Chithha, One Of 2023's Best Films". OTTPlay. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j S. V., Harshini (4 October 2023). "Chithha Is About Child Safety, Not Child Abuse: Arun Kumar". Film Companion South. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  8. ^ IANS (18 April 2022). "Actor Siddharth's production house to produce director Arun Kumar's next". DT Next. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Kamal Haasan launches Indian 2 co-star Siddharth's Chiththa poster". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  10. ^ a b Venugopal, Sonu (5 October 2023). "I've Seen Chithha 300 Times And It Still Makes Me Cry: Siddharth". Film Companion South. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  11. ^ Sundar, Anusha (27 September 2023). "I'm happiest between action and cut: Nimisha Sajayan". Cinema Express. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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  13. ^ "Siddharth's next titled 'Chittha'". The New Indian Express. 18 April 2023. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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  19. ^ "Six Tamil films battle over one release date". The Times of India. 11 September 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Siddharth breaks silence on 'Chithha' promotions disrupted in Bengaluru". The Times of India. 30 September 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Siddharth on being forced to leave Chithha event in Bengaluru: 'We lost the opportunity to speak about a good film'". The Indian Express. 29 September 2023. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Siddharth exits the Bangalore 'Chithha' promotions midway after the Cauvery protesters threat!". The Times of India. 29 September 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  23. ^ "Prakash Raj apologises to Siddharth after the 'Chithha' actor was made to leave his film's press meet by pro-Kannada protesters". The Times of India. 29 September 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  24. ^ "Shiva Rajkumar apologizes to Siddharth on behalf of Karnataka protesters". The Times of India. 29 September 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  25. ^ K., Janani (3 October 2023). "Siddharth cries at 'Chithha' Telugu event: People asked who'll watch my films". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Siddharth gets emotional at Chithha pre-release event in Hyderabad: 'People asked me who will watch Siddharth's film…'". The Indian Express. 3 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Do not watch Chithha on OTT, says Siddharth". Moviecrow. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Siddharth's 'Chithha' grosses Rs 11.5 crore at box office in 5 days". The Times of India. 4 October 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  29. ^ Features, C. E. (3 October 2023). "Chithha collects Rs 11.5 crore at box office". Cinema Express. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  30. ^ "Siddharth and Sahasra Shree starrer 'Chithha' set for its OTT premiere". The Times of India. 13 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Chithha OTT release date: When and where to watch Siddharth's 'film of the year'...:-". Ottplay. 16 November 2023. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  32. ^ "Siddharth's 'Chithha' amongst Tamil titles selected to be screened at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2024". The Hindu. 23 July 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  33. ^ "Here's the first review of Siddharth's 'Chiththa'". The Times of India. 22 September 2023. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  34. ^ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (26 December 2023). "The best Tamil movies of 2023: From 'Koozhangal' and 'Chithha' to 'Good Night' and 'Viduthalai: Part 1'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  35. ^ Rajendran, Sowmya (18 December 2023). "2023 Wrap: The 10 Best Tamil Movies of The Year". Film Companion South. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  36. ^ "Por Thozhil to Jigarthanda DoubleX: The best Tamil films of 2023, in the year of Leo and Jailer". The Indian Express. 20 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  37. ^ Staff, T. N. M. (29 December 2023). "Por Thozhil to Chittha: TNM's pick of best Tamil movies from 2023". The News Minute. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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  39. ^ S, Rajasekar (29 December 2023). "Tamil cinema in 2023: Monster blockbusters, surprise hits and misses". The Federal. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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  42. ^ a b "Chithha movie review: Siddharth-starrer is a hard but affecting film on child abuse". The Indian Express. 29 September 2023. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
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  46. ^ Rajendran, Gopinath (28 September 2023). "'Chithha' movie review: Siddharth stars in a painfully-relevant and poignantly-brilliant drama". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
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  52. ^ Features, C. E. (4 October 2023). "Silambarasan TR is all praise for Chithha, says proud of Siddharth". Cinema Express. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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  54. ^ "Winners of 69th Filmfare Awards South". Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  • Chithha at IMDb