There are some films which have a big impact on the viewer even after the movie is over because of their hard-hitting premise and intense storyline. Last year, it was Sai Pallavi’s ‘Gargi’, amongst others. And this year, the Tamil mystery thriller ‘Chithha’ sent a chill down the spines of those who watched the film.
‘Chithha’ garnered widespread critical acclaim after its theatrical release earlier this year in the month of September. Later, the film gained a whole new fan following when it started streaming on the Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform some time back.
Following the film’s OTT premiere, ‘Chithha’ has cracked the Letterboxd top 50 international movies list (released in 2023). Currently, it holds Rank 37 on the coveted Letterboxd list.
And in doing that, ‘Chithha’ has outranked several acclaimed international titles like ‘The Taste of Things’ (France), ‘The Promised Land’ (Denmark), ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ (Germany), and ‘Fallen Leaves’ (Finland). These four films are among the fifteen titles shortlisted by the Academy for Oscars 2024 in the ‘International Feature’ category. And ‘Chithha’ has beaten them on the Letterboxd top 50 list.
The basic story of ‘Chithha’ follows the titular protagonist – a government employee (played by Siddharth), who lives with and is emotionally attached with his eight-year-old niece and her sister-in-law in a small place with rising cases of missing women and sexual assaults.
One day, his niece suddenly goes missing and the cops suspect she has been kidnapped by someone. Now, the girl’s uncle must race against time and save his niece from the clutches of a suspected pedophile with the help of his friend, an undercover police officer.