Little Miss Rawther

Little Miss Rawther is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language musical romantic drama film directed by Vishnu Dev (in his directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Shersha Sherief. The film follows the love relationship between Naina Rawther (Gouri G. Kishan), a short woman, and Abhijith Chandradas (Shersha Sherief), a tall man.

Principal photography began in October 2022. The shooting took place in and around Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The music and background score was composed by Govind Vasantha. Little Miss Rawther was released in theatres on 13 October 2023.

Premise
Naina Rawther is a liberated, modern-day successful young woman, born to an upper-middle class Muslim family. Her family was very orthodox, a patriarchal father and an over-dramatic mother. She was suffering from OCD problems. Meanwhile, Abhijit, her college boyfriend is seen going through a very tough phase in his life, owing to his sinking film career. Unable to bear the fact that Naina is getting married, he calls his college best friend Arun Kaliyikka for a company and gets completely drunk. This is when Naina who gets cold-feet about marrying Shafeek, calls Abhijit who is drunk, for some life perspective on the wedding eve. After the conversation that happened between them, Naina reconsider her decision to marry and decides to run away with Abhijit.

Production
The title of the film was officially announced on 7 October 2022. The first look poster was released on 12 October 2022. The film is co-produced by Srujan Yarabolu and Sadhik Sheikh under the banner of S Originals. Shersha Sherief, who acted in Nizhal (2021) and Hridayam (2022), made his debut as a lead actor and writer. The film also marks the directorial debut of Vishnu Dev.

Filming
The makers started the principal photography on 26 October 2022 with the switch-on ceremony and completed it on 2 March 2023. It took 37 days to complete the shoot in 3 different schedules. The major shooting was completed in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, Kerala. The post-production of the film started in April 2023.

Music
The original background score and songs were composed by Govind Vasantha. The song "Chikki Chikki" was released on 12 May 2023, sung by Benny Dayal. The vocals for the second song "Ra Ra Rajasika" were given by Sithara. The music rights were obtained by Wonderwall Media Network.

Release
Little Miss Rawther was given a U/A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification. The film was initially scheduled to release on 6 October 2023. There were reports that the film would release on 12 October 2023. The official trailer was unveiled by Dulquer Salmaan, Manju Warrier, and Vineeth Sreenivasan. Director Vishnu Dev and lead actress Gouri G. Kishan announced the release date of the film through their social media handles.

Critical response
Sruthi Ganapathy Raman of Film Companion wrote, "Vishnu Dev's Little Miss Rawther has a sharp, distinctive way in which it sets up characters. The modern romance piece does explore the opposites attract quandary." Arunima Krishnan of Malayala Manorama praised the score and wrote, "With beautiful songs and accompanying visual charm, the film is sure to win campus minds."

With a score of 1.5 out of 5 stars, Hari P N from Koimoi critiqued the film by saying that "'Little Miss Rawther' unfolds as a distinctive stoner comedy-drama straying from conventional storytelling norms.". Hari further goes on and says that "The film cleverly weaves between past and present, using flashbacks and film footage to capture the essence of their relationship."