Chola

"Chola" is made for parallel cinema audiences and film festivals around the world. I am pretty sure the mainstream audience would not like the movie one bit. One has to understand the fact that Chola is a different movie made for different set of audiences, that is why the rating here is so poor. The ratings here, definitely doesn't paint the picture of this fantastic movie.

Chola is a road movie that combines a host of genres like Drama, suspense, physiological triller and horror to present a very mature storyline. The film contains some top class elements in cinematography and sound design, and is best when viewed in the biggest screen possible. Screenplay is absolutely realistic with the depiction of even the smallest of details. Editing, production design, costumes and make up ably support the movie.

The three actors have done a wonderful job with Nimisha stealing the show yet again with a stellar performance. The entire film hinges on her expressions of a growing fear, breaking free, sensing her doom and then expressing her insanity or having a bout of Stockholm syndrome. However, though she turns into a victim of circumstance, she continues to show her resistance, in vain. Nimisha infuses a certain power that makes her character of a schoolgirl indomitable despite what she has gone through. Direction is at its best throughout the movie and kept delivering punch after punch.

Overall, An absolutely Disturbing film with strong message on the power politics of patriarchy. Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's film puts out the bizarrely dark aspects of the reality that we usually choose to ignore. The movie will make you thoroughly uncomfortable. Chola is an very important film in my cinematic journey on many fronts.

The film stars good but becomes bore later. The film moves at very slow pace with still camera videos for long duration. The story is also didn't make sense after second half. The thrill is lost in second half. Janaki was just crying always except the beach scene. The ending was wierd. The director couldn't tell why the girl who initially tried to run away from Jojo and was later following Jojo. When he touches her she starts crying. When her boyfriend tried to help, she pushes him and goes with jojo. Janaki had same emotions throughout the scene.

Zero rating.

I watched Chola expecting it to be a good movie given Joju George's brilliant Joseph. Nimisha Sajayan was very effective in Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum but most certainly not in Chola. What a terrible movie Chola turned out to be.

The opening scene of the boy waiting impatiently for his girlfriend held promise but was exceedingly slow as was the rest of the movie, lingering pointlessly on frame by frame by never ending frame. The plot went sluggishly from slow to weird and eventually bizarre.

If the girl and the boy went mad, then believe me we the viewers also will go mad just by watching this film.

This is one instance where I should have read (and trusted) the reviews first! Now Im wondering whether I should bother to watch Sashidharans S Durga at all.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Available on Amazon Prime with English subtitles

I thought Aparan & Joji & some more as well, are the darkest movies I have ever seen in Malayalam movie industry till date.

I was just blown off after seeing this movie.

Just 3 main characters, hats off to the director.

It depicts how human behaviour evolves/succumbs/adapts according to the situation.

The 2nd half was inhuman!!!!

I don't have the courage to watch it again.

Excellent screenplay.

What made me watch Chola was Sanal's terrific previous venture Ozhivudivasathe Kali (yet to see S Durga). Barring the solid performances of Joju George (as the molester) and Nimisha Sajayan (as the abused) and the stunning cinematography by Ajith Aacharya, I couldn't really take to Chola the same way I did with Ozhivudivasathe Kali. The transition from eerie drama to magical realism wasn't seamless and a random interjection of Stockholm Syndrome only made it worse. I like the way Sanal tackles the theme of oppression (this is the third in what one could call SOCU - Sanal's Oppression Cinematic Universe) but Chola takes things one step too far. This is one of the few films (in recent times) that makes effective use of its natural locales (Venu's Carbon is another). The ambiguity in (almost the entirety of) the second half and the climax left a bad taste in my mouth.