Chatha Pacha movie review: Roshan Mathew, Arjun Ashokan’s actioner is a thrilling tribute to WWE-obsessed childhoods, but fails as a film

After years of living away from his brothers with zero contact, Little (Ishan Shoukath) finally returns to Kochi. But it’s not an aimless visit; he has come with a plan to change his and his brothers’ lives forever. However, it’s only upon meeting Savio (Arjun Ashokan) that Little learns their elder brother Vetri (Roshan Mathew) is in jail, and that Vetri’s child Rose (Vedhika Sreekumar), whose mother died during childbirth, now lives with a loving Savio. Nonetheless, Little decides to go ahead, and as ardent fans of WWE and its presentation of wrestling as sports entertainment growing up, he suggests to Savio that they set up something similar in their city, which would bring them popularity and money. Although Savio is instantly in, the two brothers initially struggle to get their friends on board. However, once they also agree, Savio and Little decide to give it a go, following the advice their father-like figure, “Bullet” Walter, always gave: “Chatha Pacha (Do or Die).” Despite successfully launching the club, Power House (a better use of the term when compared to it’s comical portrayal in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie), their troubles are far from over. Their archrival Cherian (Vishak Nair) is on the prowl to bring them down, and matters are worsened by a secret Savio has been keeping from Vetri — one that, if revealed, could mean only one of them survives.

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There is an extensive in-ring fight sequence between Little and Savio towards the interval. Although Savio was supposed to fight someone else there, Little was forced to step in when the other fighter didn’t show up. Despite being asthmatic, Little takes on the challenge because it’s the most hyped event of their inaugural night. This well-staged, lively shot sequence actually sums up the core of professional wrestling and Chatha Pacha, where mutual understanding, intuition, and being in sync are most important.

In between the moves, we see both Little and Savio, who go by the ring names Loco Lobo and Toofan, respectively, checking in on each other and giving precise cues. When Little goes out of breath, Savio throws him out of the ring, giving him ample time to use his inhaler before returning. Despite the fight being unchoreographed, unlike their usual style, everything goes smoothly because they have been play-fighting since childhood and know each other’s moves. That’s why when Toofan deals a “Sweet Chin Music” to Lobo or when Lobo retaliates with a “Chokeslam,” it pumps up the audience on-screen, as the duo knows when the adrenaline is going to kick in.

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The interval block that follows, featuring a victorious Savio standing atop the ring’s corner and locking eyes with an exonerated Vetri, in a canted angle shot, perfectly captures the whole essence. While Savio’s demeanour radiates fear, Vetri’s highlights his rock-solidness, and they share the glance in the midst of a zealous crowd of wrestling viewers. This entire sequence hits the bull’s eye because the technical side of Chatha Pacha is at its peak. Almost everything has gone according to director Adhvaith Nayar’s plans and is only further enhanced by Mujeeb Majeed’s electrifying background score and Anend C Chandran’s turbocharged cinematography.

In fact, whenever it shifts to the wrestling matches, Chatha Pacha is immediately as good as it can get. Not only is the staging and overall execution in such scenes extraordinary, but the performances are also splendid, truly giving the experience of watching live professional wrestling matches, where a Kochi-based food delivery agent, Nitro Kili (Carmen S Mathew), might deal a “619” to her friend and local petty criminal Kadalkomban (Dartagnan Sabu). However, the biggest shortcoming of the action comedy is that it mostly works only when it’s focused on the wrestling ring. When the narrative glides through the mundane, everyday drama of Vetri, Savio, Little, and Rose, Chatha Pacha never truly lands, largely because of poor writing.

The biggest shortcoming of Chatha Pacha is that it mostly works only when it’s focused on the wrestling ring.

From the prologue chronicling the trio’s childhood and their obsession with WWE-style wrestling and “Bullet” Walter, the fragility of Sanoop Thykoodam’s screenplay is palpable, and it only deepens as the movie progresses. While it stitches together intriguing individual moments, the script rarely offers narrative cohesiveness. Furthermore, the writer’s efforts are undermined by extremely poor dialogues. Even Little’s narration in the prologue is marred by weak lines, and the handling of Kochi slang comes across as forced. This issue persists throughout, and the only character whose accent sounds natural is Arjun Ashokan, who somehow manages to effortlessly blend into the surroundings.

(Spoilers ahead) The dialogues hit rock bottom during the climax when “Bullet” Walter makes a surprise appearance, and the role is portrayed by none other than Mammootty. Although the megastar brings his inherent aura, the cameo ends up feeling ineffective due to poor writing. Almost every line Walter delivers feels contrived, as if Mammootty has forgotten the art and craft of mastering dialects, which he was once renowned for, and his overall appearance comes across as more caricatured than exhilarating.

Another major shortcoming of Chatha Pacha is the lack of a solid emotional hook in the narrative, and the ones that do exist are inconsequential. Had the movie been treated differently, focusing entirely on wrestling rather than including the drama among the characters, this wouldn’t have been an issue. However, Chatha Pacha gives equal weight to both drama and wrestling, and the lack of a sturdy emotional hook keeps the audience from forming a deep, personal connection with the narrative.

For instance, Nahas Hidhayath’s RDX (2023) — which similarly centred on three young brothers — clicked with audiences because they were drawn in emotionally in the first act itself. While the attack on the toddler early on served as a vigorous emotional hook, the writers also managed to effectively showcase the different levels of Robert, Dony, and Xavier’s bond moving forward. In Chatha Pacha, not only is there no such emotional hook, but aside from random dialogues highlighting their affection, we never truly see the extent of Vetri, Savio, and Little’s bond, except for a scene in the prologue that is reminiscent of the iconic theatre fight in Rajeev Ravi’s Kammatipaadam (2016). Although the narrative positions Vetri and Savio like the new-era Bilal (Mammootty) and Eddy John Kurishingal (Manoj K Jayan) of Big B (2007), these attempts remain merely verbal and superficial.

On the technical front, the movie’s biggest strength is Anend C Chandran’s cinematography, which reaches its best during the climax fight sequence between Vetri and Savio. Although Praveen Prabhakar’s editing is overall good, had he packed a few more punches, the narrative shortcomings could have been mitigated to a large extent. While Mujeeb Majeed excels with the original score, the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio makes their presence felt in their debut Malayalam movie as composers. Kalai Kingson’s stunts and Sunil Das’ art direction also deserve praise.

Although Roshan Mathew brings fire to Vetri with his body language and even glances, poor characterisation and lack of moments to explore the role further have hindered him from delivering a strong portrayal. Arjun Ashokan, on the other hand, gives a commendable performance, putting his all into the character. While the character of Cherian is tailored to be a rich, spoiled, devilish brat who is always a pitch too high, Vishak Nair’s depiction never becomes convincing, and there are quite a few instances when it feels like he is trying too hard.

Chatha Pacha movie cast: Arjun Ashokan, Roshan Mathew, Vishak Nair, Ishan Shoukath, Lakshmi Menon, Minon, Vyshnav Biju, Carmen S Mathew
Chatha Pacha movie director: Adhvaith Nayar
Chatha Pacha movie rating: 2.5 stars