Film: Chikkiku Chikkikkichu
Director: N Rajesh Kumar
Cast: Mithun, Mrudula, Adhavan, Anup Arvind.
A participant in the short film competition, the Naalaya Iyakunar reality show, Rajesh makes his debut feature film Chikkiku Chikkikkichu. A rom-com set in a train compartment, the director tries to blend humour, romance and a bit of sentiment here. While the romantic portions have a smooth flow, working out the comic portions within the confines of the limited space, does become a tough proposition for the director.
Mithun after essaying supporting characters in films like Engeyum Eppodhum (2011) and Chennaiyil Oru naal (2013), plays the lead here. He is Chikki aka Chidambara Krishnan, an IT professional who with friend Venky (Adhavan) leads a carefree life. After the earlier moments of establishing the characters and a song later, the narration moves into a railway compartment.
Chikki had gone to the railway station to give a send-off to his friends. But glimpsing a girl boarding the train, Chikki falls for her at first sight, and jumps into the train. She is Varsha (Mridula), a fashion designer who was on her way home to Nagercoil. Mithun has a pleasant screen presence. And his expressions and dialogue delivery have a natural feel. Especially in the scene where he narrates a long fictional story to Varsha.
After the initial reluctance of reciprocating to Chikki’s rather obvious interest in her, Varsha realises he is a decent guy after all and thaws towards him. The love track evolves in a natural way. It takes a little time to take to Mridula. But as the narration progresses, we relate to her simplicity and wholesome appeal. The feel of being on a train journey is created to an extent by the sound of the train passing through various terrains, and the ambiance when it halts at platforms. Adhavan, however, does ruin the effect by his unusually loud talk, as if he was the only passenger in the compartment.
The changing landscape is dispensed with, as it’s mostly a night journey. The screenplay is rather bland. The director could have crafted it in a way that’s interesting and appealing to the audience.
There is the potential villain of the piece in the form of Varsha’s brother, a typical small town thug. The narration cuts to more open spaces here, to depict the antics of the brother and his henchmen. The finale has a twist, the director crafting an ending satisfactory to all the crucial players in the plot.
A caption at the end reads, ‘We are software professionals, handle us softly’. The film has roughly just about 110 minutes of running time. But at times it does look like the debutant maker had attempted to stretch what should have been a short film, to an unmanageable length.