Story

Vijay (Sai Dharam Tej) is a down-on-luck mechanical engineer who’s looking for that big break in life. Both his personal and professional lives are a mess; will he ever catch a break? 

Review

On the surface, the film seems like a simple tale, that of Vijay (Sai Dharam Tej) who invents a path-breaking device that can save lives, but is somehow never taken seriously enough by anyone, except for his loving father (Posani Krishna Murali). He cannot get through life without downing a drink at the end of the day with his ‘glassmate’ Mike (Sunil), a dreamer who wants to be a lyricist and singer someday. But thrown into the mix is also Lahari (Kalyani Priyadarshan), the love of his life who’s easily swayed by those around her who point fingers at Vijay and his failures. She cannot take a single decision for herself, causing unnecessary friction in their relationship. Sweccha (Nivetha Pethuraj) is Lahari’s childhood friend, jaded by incidents in her life and judgemental about every minute thing. 

Chitralahari is a well-intentioned film that starts out wanting to tell the story of an underdog who does not give up till he reaches his goal, ably supported by his father. Unfortunately, halfway through, it also turns into a melodramatic story where characters and plot points are introduced to no end and life lessons learnt from every other scene. The narrative that begins without taking itself too seriously and in lighter vein soon turns drab and melodramatic, with the overblown climax being the cherry-on-top.

watch Chitralahari if you don’t mind rooting for the underdog umpteenth time on-screen, especially with a relatable story like this. Watch it especially for Sai Dharam Tej, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Nivetha Pethuraj and their honest performances. Give it a chance this weekend if you don’t mind a sketchy narrative and you might just find the perfect summer watch.