Cast: Sushanth, Ruhani Sharma, Vennela Kishore, JP, Rohini, Anu Haasan and others
Director: Rahul Ravindran
Hailing from the Akkineni family, actor Sushanth seems to have found his groove with Chi La Sow. Actor-turned-director Rahul Ravindran makes his directorial debut with this film while Ruhani Sharma debuts as the female lead. The film generated a lot of buzz after top actor Nagarjuna joined the production.
Arjun (Sushanth) works in a software company and doesn’t want to get married for five years. Instead, he wants to earn enough money to buy a sports car and travel abroad alone. But his parents pressurise him as they feel it would be difficult for him to get married after a certain age. They introduce a girl, Anjali (Ruhani Sharma), to Arjun at their house. Anjali is a middle class girl taking care of her mother, sister and grandmother. Both of them have a frank discussion about marriage and conclude that they are not ready for it. However, while there, Anjali gets a call from her sister about their mother’s health. She leaves in a hurry and Arjun decides to help her. From here, events take a different turn as they are unable to leave each other. What makes them fall in love on that night is the crux of the story.
Director Rahul Ravindran has come up with an interesting story for Chi La Sow. A popular actor, he turns director with this film and presents a new-age love story. It is not a typical Telugu formulaic film with story, songs, action and entertainment. It is the story of two young people — a boy who doesn’t like marriage and a self-made girl who wants to marry. The story spans just 24 hours and Rahul Ravindran’s narrative is both natural and realistic. The film starts on a slow note but soon becomes interesting.
Arjun wants to fulfill his dreams first and then marry while Anjali, who is strong and emotional, gives a lot of importance to her family. In their first meeting, both decide to part in a friendly manner but a few incidents make them stay together the whole night. Although director Rahul inserts a few incidents to get the lead pair closer to one another, there are a few surprises in between.
It is not easy to narrate a love story that happens in just one night, but Rahul cleverly makes the script interesting and convincing. There are no villains, no dream songs and no action scenes; it is a clean and feel-good film. Full credit to Rahul for coming up with a good debut film.
After trying his hand at a few commercial films, Sushanth tries a different role with this movie and does full justice to his character Arjun. He is subtle, apt for the role and has done a fabulous job as he proves he can act; this film might just give him the much needed break.
The highlight of the film however, is definitely Ruhani Sharma, who makes her debut as lead actress. She is simply superb with her emotions and acts like a veteran. She throws a big surprise with her stunning performance as a strong, independent and typical middle-class girl. Rohini plays the sick mother well. Anu Haasan, J.P. and Rahul Ramakrishna do a neat job while Vennela Kishore provides the entertainment with his funny acts.
M. Sukumar’s cinematography and Prashanth Vihari’s music help the film. The dialogues are neat and good.
Chi La Sow is a neatly made new-age love story sans the regular commercial features of glamour and action. Debut director Rahul Ravindran must be appreciated for his work and also for his good writing skills. It’s a feel-good movie with lots of emotions, one that you must watch!
HT05
