Comedy is serious business, they say. Rafi-MeCcartin duo should know as they have been part of many successful humor movies (Tenkasipattinam, for instance). Being successful is one thing, following that with another is totally different ---- and dare one say, difficult.
The double-directors' new venture Chathikatha Chanthu is hardly a rib-tickler. Far from it, it is a disjointed pastiche of sitcom and slapstick. The binding glue of a strong script is unfortunately missing.
Chanthu (Jayasurya), son of a maidservant at work in a big household, where he is lucky enough to get the attention of Thampuran (Janardhanan) who likes him and fosters him as his child. Not surprisingly, Thampuran's daughter Indira (Bhavana) dotes on him and expresses his love for Chanthu. Then again, not surprisingly, Chanthu does not want to let down Thampuran and keeps his love to himself. But Indira, like all film heroines, is steadfast and pesters Chanthu to love her. So to escape from her, Chanthu creates an alibi --- he says he is in love with another girl. Soon he sets out for Chennai in search of a job. But as it happens, he gets to meet the girl he has created out of his imagination --- Vasumathy (Navya Nair).
She also has a story to tell about her life. Chanthu meets Krishna (Vineeth) a dance master who introduces him to Ravikumar (Lal), a film director. Ravikumar makes a film based on the life of Vasumathy and it becomes a big hit. Their life changes, and so too the film as it peters down to a hurried hotchpotch of crime and horror. The denouement is all about how the pairs get united.
On the acting front, Jayasurya is honest and tries manfully in a heavy role. He is good. But alas, that is inadequate to carry off the film. Navya Nair is cute and her performance is also. Vineeth, in a small role, is impressive. The comedy track grates and the music (by Alex Paul) is just about average, Rafi-MeCartin, who has a flair for earthy comedy, is obviously not in their elements. They let the script flounder with some unimaginative handling.
