Why were some of us who grew up watching WWE matches on TV so invested in them? Simple. The drama. We were initially led to believe that these people, who were unleashing mayhem on each other's flesh with not just their own bodies but also any object they could get their hands on, had real beef between each other. But then, as we matured, we realised everything was scripted. Everything was an illusion. Sarvam Maya. So, how does a Malayalam film about a group of WWE-obsessed kids who grew up to become adults who drifted apart for a long time, and eventually come together to set up WWE-inspired matches in their hometown, get us invested in it? Simple. The drama. Only this time, it's real-life drama spilling over to the drama in the arena.
For this drama to work, you need to have characters you can root for. Which was what made, for example, Khalid Rahman's Alappuzha Gymkhana, released last year, successful. The drama in Chatha Pacha is a combination of several factors: a rivalry that spans decades; a love story that resulted in one family blacklisting another; a criminal undertaking that went awry; and a little girl's affection split between two fathers — the real and the foster. Chatha Pacha is like a wrestling match that takes a while to get itself and us warmed up. And once it gets going, it’s full steam ahead. There is nothing fresh or out of the box when it comes to its early portions that establish the relationship between the three men, their mentors, and their home situation. There is, however, a slight lack of clarity in conveying the depth of their brotherhood and their parentage. Because, at one point, someone mentions that two of them are not of the same blood, but this part is never given much attention.
But, for me, these minor squibbles didn't matter after a point, because, after all, it only mattered whether the characters played by Arjun Ashokan, Roshan Mathew, and Ishan Shoukath have endearing qualities that make them worthy of rooting for. Chatha Pacha manages to get us close to them in very little time. They are all the boy-next-door types, regardless of the varying degrees of rowdyism within them. The most aggressive of the bunch is Roshan Mathew's Vetri, who has a painful backstory that eventually proves to be a chink in the armour of the bond between him and Arjun Ashokan's character Savio. I just realised one thing: When the names of a movie's lead characters come to you easily without searching for them online, that means the characters are strong enough to stay with you for a longer period.
Roshan's Vetri is built up like a character who can make things complicated for the other two men, given his volatile nature and certain unpleasant truths that, if not left buried, would only disrupt everything. This is what I meant by real-life drama spilling over. And, of course, there is drama from its principal antagonist, Cheriyan (Vishak Nair), the spoilt, flamboyant son who would do anything to make his wheelchair-bound father (Sai Kumar) proud. Cherian is someone who would rather preserve his energy as much as possible and instead gets other people to do his bidding, unless he finds it absolutely necessary to get physically involved. And there is an electrifying fight sequence involving him that's one of the film's key highlights, aside from the intense confrontations — a combination of efficient staging, lighting, editing, and composition — involving Arjun, Roshan, Ishan, and... a delightful cameo from a Malayalam megastar.
All these elements in Chatha Pacha evoke, for the 90s kid in me, the flavour of some enjoyable entertainers of that era in Malayalam cinema, such as Kottayam Kunjachan, Uppukandam Brothers, and, to a certain extent, Siddique-Lal's Godfather. I even remembered a 1998 Akshay Kumar movie, Barood, because, at a crucial point in Chatha Pacha, both Arjun and Roshan are fighting international wrestlers. With its post-intermission segments being stronger than the rest, Chatha Pacha is like that wrestling match that proves rewarding if you are patient enough to stay with it, instead of being irked with the few unremarkable and familiar bits we see early on, and a couple of attempts at forced humour. If anything, it demonstrates an impressive action hero side to some actors which hasn't been explored until now, despite them being in the industry for quite a while. I hope Chatha Pacha opens up possibilities for them to appear in more mainstream, action-driven fare.
Film: Chatha Pacha: The Ring of Rowdies
Director: Advaith Nayar
Cast: Arjun Ashokan, Roshan Mathew, Ishan Shoukath, Vishak Nair, Carmen S. Mathew
Rating: 3.5/5