Chi La Sow Review

Jyothsna Bhavanishankar

A story about man-woman relationship can never go outdated because it is interesting, intriguing, strange, and provides innumerable standpoints. Actor turned director Rahul Ravindran has taken this premise for his debut directorial Chi La Sow which means the prefixes added to a bride’s name in wedding invitation.

The story is about Arjun (a very cute Sushanth) and Anjali (confident debutante Ruhani Sharma) and their respective reasons to or not to get hitched. Arjun and Anjali are people we may get to see in our daily lives. Rahul’s narration makes the audience get involved with their lives right away and invest their emotions on them.

Arjun is well educated and employed. He is constantly forced by his parents to get married but he just wants to marry after five years when he achieves his goals viz. buying a high end sports car for which he has been saving and also after he is done with an Europe tour. But his mom, (a sprightly Anu Hasan) thinks otherwise and feels that his options in marriage market would come down after five years.

On the other hand, for Anjali, marriage is to provide some kind of security for her bipolar mom (Rohini). She is a self-made woman, sure of herself and is not emotionally dependent.

What happens when Arjun and Anjali are made to meet by their respective families, what decisions are taken and how they understand each other are all Chi la sow about.

The film opens up in an unconventional manner when we hear the word ‘shit shit shit’ as an opening dialogue. It first establishes Arjun’s world and then introduces Anjali. We slowly understand why Anjali is the way she is. Rahul steadily builds up the storyline and ends it well too.

Chi la sow is beautiful for its well written characters. It has been a while when we got to see a strong woman character in cinema. Rahul’s Anjali is so real and respect worthy. She is strong, knows what to do and carries herself so brilliantly. At the same time, she is flawed too and that’s what makes her so relatable and REAL. She does not want to be weak and does not want to admit certain truths. Debutant Ruhani has understood Anjali well and has delivered her perfectly. The first shot of her made me wonder if she was heroine material. But as she starts talking, we are slowly but steadily taken in by her charm. Chinmayee, as a voice over artist for Anjali has done a commendable job in bringing life to the character.

On the other hand, Sushanth is wonderful, has that boyish charm and is ever convincing. He is confused, edgy but cute. There are going to be more women fans for Sushanth after this film. He is REAL too. The scenes where he is baffled by Anjali’s reactions are the best ones. The young lad aces them all.

Vennela Kishore is effective as Arjun’s friend. The group mail stretch in the office is hilarious. The rest of the supporting cast of Vidyullekha, Jayaprakash, Rahul Ramakrishna and others fit perfectly into their roles.

On the flip side, the song at the roadside eatery could have been avoided and so are a few scenes. But they are just minor niggles.

At the end of the day films are stories which are narrated using a certain medium and Rahul Ravindran has done that well in an enjoyable and engaging manner. To sum it all, Chi la sow is a film that you can take your entire family and enjoy. Go for it!

Rating: 3/5