Chithha

Chithha is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by S. U. Arun Kumar and produced by Siddharth, who stars in the lead role alongside Nimisha Sajayan (in her Tamil debut), and Anjali Nair in addition to Baby Sahasra Shree and Baby S. Aafiyah Tasneem in the prominent roles.

Chithha was released theatrically on 29 September 2023 to critical acclaim and became a commercial success at the box office.

Plot
Eeswaran is a government employee from Palani who bonds with his eight-year old niece Sundari and is quite protective of her. Eeswaran also has a couple of close friends, one of whom happens to be an undercover cop named Vadivelu, whose niece Ponni is good friends with Sundari. Unable to comprehend her elder sister’s romantic conversation with her boyfriend, Ponni assumes that a bevy of deer is present in a forest area close to the school and asks Sundari if she would be interested in going to see the animals after school.

The two girls plan to leave Eeswaran and head to the area on their own. Ponni and Sundari board an auto rikshaw to the area as per the plan, but Sundari gets scared and leaves Ponni, who goes alone to see the area. The next day, Ponni's father accuses Eeswaran of assaulting Ponni, but Vadivelu finds that Eeswaran is innocent and apologises to him.

One day, due to ongoing pressure and doubts about him from his sister-in-law, Eeswaran angrily walks away from home. Sundari tries to run behind him, but gets kidnapped by a notorious pedophile. Eeswaran sets out on a crusade to save Sundari, where she is finally saved and admit her to the hospital after being sexually abused by the pedophile.

Eeswaran finds out that the police have captured the culprit, but it turns out that the culprit is actually Ponni's abuser, who was the auto rickshaw driver. He gets stabbed by Eeswaran using a glass stuck knife. Eeswaran's girlfriend, Shakti, shares her tragic past of being assaulted and asks him to forget about his vengeance. Eeswaran agrees and takes care of Sundari.

A year later, the police find a burnt corpse of the pedophile, implying that Eeswaran had learned about the pedophile's true identity and killed him.

Production
The film was produced by Siddharth under his banner, Etaki Entertainment. On 17 April 2023, Siddharth's birthday, Kamal Haasan unveiled the first-look poster and the film's title. The major portions of the film were shot in Palani. The filming was wrapped up in April 2023. The cinematography of the film was by Balaji Subramanyam, and the editing was handled by Suresh A. Prasad.

Music
The songs for the film were composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Santhosh Narayanan, while the background score was composed by Vishal Chandrashekhar.

Reception
Chithha received critical acclaim from critics.

Critical response
Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "A sensitive, powerful film that breaks conventional rules of heroism." M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Siddharth's Chithha is a hard-hitting and deeply unsettling tale of abuse." Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "This is easily Siddharth's best performance by far. It is painful to watch him suffer through it all without respite." K. Janani of India Today gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "'Chithha ' is a much-needed film with a solid message. This is truly a hard-watch but will leave with a good afterthought."

Thinkal Menon of OTTPlay gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Chithha is one of the must-watch films of the year, thanks to the terrific performances from lead actors, intriguing screenplay and the originality with which a sensitive subject is handled." Krishna Selvaseelan of the Tamil Guardian gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and said the film "tears out the viewer's heart and holds it ransom - an impressive feat". "S. U. Arun Kumar has delivered a gut-wrenching thriller, displaying a little horror whilst insinuating a lot."

Rajasekar S. of The Federal wrote "Chithha will go down as one of the best Tamil films of this year. It is a must-watch for its message, exemplary writing and performances." Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Handling the sensitive issue of child sexual abuse with care, Chithha marks a befitting resurgence for both its director S. U. Arun Kumar and lead actor Siddharth."

Home media
After much confusion about the digital premiere of Chithha, Disney+ Hotstar, bagged the digital rights of the film. Chithha premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 28 November 2023.