Chatha Pacha Review: A Loud Film With A Quiet Core
For a generation that grew up in the late 90s, WWE was pure emotion. Chatha Pacha understands this emotional archive intimately. It recreates that world with noise, sweat, and muscle memory. What it doesn’t quite figure out is what to do once the bell rings for real life. Inside the ring, everything makes sense. Outside it, very little does. Chatha Pacha is most alive when bodies collide under bright lights and choreographed chaos. The moment the film steps out to explain itself, the energy drops, and the punches stop landing.
Directed by debutant Adhvaith Nayar,the action-comedy follows Savio (Arjun Ashokan), Little (Ishan Shoukath), and Vetri (Roshan Mathew), three brothers bound by a shared childhood and an enduring fascination with wrestling. Years after being separated, Little returns to Kochi with a plan that could change their lives. It is during this reunion that he learns Vetri is in jail and that Vetri’s young daughter Rose (Vedhika Sreekumar) is being raised by Savio. Despite the fractured family dynamics, Little pushes ahead with his idea to recreate WWE-style sports entertainment in their city, guided by their mentor and father-figure, “Bullet” Walter.
What follows is the formation of an underground wrestling club, fuelled by nostalgia and ambition.As the venture gains traction, so do the obstacles —rival promoter Cherian (Vishak Nair), local power structures, and unresolved tensions between the brothers, including a secret Savio has been carrying that threatens to undo everything they have built.
At its best, the film thrives inside the wrestling ring. The in-ring sequences are staged with clarity, rhythm, and a clear understanding of professional wrestling.The choreography captures the unspoken contract between wrestlers, trust, timing, and intuition. One extended interval fight sequence, involving Savio and Little stepping into the ring under unexpected circumstances, encapsulates this beautifully. The scene works not because of narrative stakes, but because of how precisely it mirrors the mechanics of wrestling checking in mid-fight, reading cues, and protecting each other even while performing violence.
These sequences are elevated further by Anend C Chandran’s kinetic cinematography, which mirrors the frenzy of live wrestling events, and Mujeeb Majeed’s background score, which punches at the right moments without overpowering the visuals. Kalai Kingson’s stunt choreography ensures the action feels controlled yet chaotic, while Sunil Das art direction convincingly recreates the underground wrestling ecosystem. Whenever the film commits fully to this world, Chatha Pacha becomes thrilling.
The problem begins when the narrative shifts focus. Written by Sanoop Thykoodam, the screenplay assembles interesting individual moments but struggles to bind them into a cohesive emotional journey. Conflicts emerge, escalate, and resolve with little emotional grounding. Relationships are repeatedly spoken about, rarely shown. As a result, it becomes difficult to invest deeply in the inner lives of the characters, despite the film insisting on their importance.
Dialogues, in particular, weigh the film down. Many lines feel overworked and unnatural, especially in their handling of Kochi slang, which often sounds forced rather than lived-in. Arjun Ashokan stands out as the exception his Savio feels grounded, and his performance balances physical commitment with emotional restraint. Roshan Mathew brings intensity to Vetri through body language and glances, but thin characterisation limits the impact of his performance. Vishak Nair’s Cherian, written as a flamboyant antagonist, often feels pitched too high, bordering on caricature.
The much discussed cameo appearance suffers from the same writing issues. Despite the inherent screen presence of the actor, the dialogues and styling dilute what should have been a powerful moment, turning it into one of the film’s weakest stretches.
On the technical front, Chatha Pacha remains polished. Praveen Prabhakar’s editing keeps the film largely taut, though sharper trimming could have softened some narrative lags.Ultimately, Chatha Pacha understands the mechanics of wrestling better than the mechanics of storytelling. It recreates the spectacle, nostalgia, and adrenaline of WWE-inspired entertainment with remarkable confidence, but struggles to build an emotional spine strong enough to hold everything together. What remains is a film that is technically accomplished and occasionally exhilarating, yet emotionally distant.
Like a well-executed signature move without a compelling storyline, Chatha Pacha lands but doesn’t leave a lasting impact.
