Chinna (2005 film)

Chinna is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Sundar C. The film stars Arjun and Sneha in lead roles. It was released on 15 July 2005.

Plot
The film begins with Gayathri marrying an irrigation engineer against her wishes. As she goes through with her marriage in autopilot, her sunken heart reflects on her past. Gayathri, a marine student, goes to Rameswaram to study coral reefs and marine ecosystems while staying with her uncle and cousin in a fisherman hamlet. There, she witnesses Chinna and his assistants – local mobsters working for a gang – committing   violent crimes. Though she wanted to report these crimes to the local SP, her uncle and cousin dissuade her. Meanwhile, she asks her uncle for a guide to take her locations that are rich in marine life. Her uncle asks Chinna to help Gayathri in her pursuit. After a couple of close encounters with Chinna, Gayathri understands his soft, childlike nature and vows to reform him into a socially acceptable man. Later, love blossoms between them. Even as Chinna tries to straighten his ways, a violent feud ensues between him and the local gang. Trying to save Gayathri, Chinna kills the gang leader and is sentenced to life imprisonment. Taking advantage of Chinna's absence, Gayathri's parents marry her to the irrigation engineer. As the flashback ends, the story ploughs through the second half, where Chinna, characterised by his obsession with "Gayathri", kills people working against his goal to attain his ladylove. At the end, after much drama, when Chinna almost kills Gayathri's husband, Gayathri shoots him in order to save her husband. Chinna asks Gayathri if she had feelings for him then, for at least a second. Just after she nods her head saying yes, he jumps off the building. The movie ends there, indicating his death.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by D. Imman.

Reception
Indiaglitz wrote, "Sundar C has a penchant for comedy capers that are low on logic but high on entertainment. Chinna is unlike Sundar C's film, which is not just very serious but also lacks his trademark humour. However thanks to a fast narration and good performance by Sneha, Chinna manages to leave an impression with the audience." Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote, "Arjun, expectedly, does his fights and stunts with flair, his intense grim look suiting the role well. It's when the story moves into the second half that the director falters". Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "The first aspect that strikes one as odd is the number of climaxes that stretch the length of the film beyond a point of endurance. With better control over the script, the narration would have been more interesting". Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote Sundar made a masala out of mixing Gunaa and Kadhal Konden in second half, praised Sneha's acting and Sundar for casting antagonists Mansoor Ali Khan and Ponnambalam in humourous characters and concluded saying is it possible to make a new film on age old plot just for the screenplay which never stumbles. Regarding the Telugu dubbed version Koti, a critic from Telugucinema.com wrote that "it is pucca [pakka] Tamil film – typical Tamil films’ clichés like a street song, silly comedy, and excessive melodrama. It hardly impresses.".