CHITHHA (2023)

Tamil pic (i.e. non-Bollywood) from writer/director S.U. Arun Kumar with heartthrob leading man Siddharth, in what I presume is a big change-of-pace role, as beloved uncle to his fatherless eight-yr-old niece, suddenly finding himself drowning in circumstantial evidence that makes it look as if he’s molested one of the girl’s school friends.  (A bit hard to parse all the relationships in the film, but everyone seem to be a cousins of some sort.  Which, of course, makes the accusations  only worse.)  The second half of the film has Siddharth cleared, and the family of the girl not just apologizing, but working with him after his niece goes missing, almost certainly the molester's latest target.  This second part very effective, with frustrating missteps and misunderstandings from police, child social service workers, those helpful relatives, a rekindled marriage prospect (this relationship a film in itself), and Siddharth’s unhinged need for revenge.  (His broken-glass encrusted knife enough to frighten anyone.)  Yet it’s the slightly off-putting moments in the first half that feel fresh, culturally challenging, and narratively destabilizing.  Starting with the Uncle/Niece relationship, a typically self-centered kid, they’re a bit too close, she’s a little too pampered.  Caught lying in childish ways to get what she wants, even stealing from a fellow student, then not owning up to it.  So when her friend starts acting strangely toward her, taboo subjects left unspoken to fester into tacit accusations, commonsense answers (or even commonsense questions) impossible to come by.  With innocent actions made to seem ominous, quickly spinning out of control.  As per an opening title, ‘Based on a true story - unfortunately.’   Well, maybe, it feels structurally too neat for that, but works on its own terms, Kumar with a real eye for color, movement & casting.