Chaavu Kaburu Challaga Telugu Movie ReviewBOTTOM LINE

Neither Funny nor Emotional

OUR RATING
2.25/5

CENSOR
2h 17m, ‘U/A’ Certified


Karthikeya - Chaavu Kaburu Challaga ReviewWhat Is the Film About?

Basti Balaraju (Karthikeya) is a mortuary van driver. He falls in love with Mallika (Lavanya Tripathi) instantly when he sees her at a graveyard mourning her husband’s death. How he manages to convince Mallika about her love? And what happens, in the end, is what the movie is all about?

How Is Karthikeya’s Performance?

Young hero Karthikeya has picked a different role this time. But, it’s the backdrop of the character that is different here instead of the actual characterisation. He is still the guy in love relentlessly pursuing the lover, but it all comes in a vastly ‘different setup’.

Leaving aside the ‘actual’ role, there are visible efforts to make the body language different from the routine. A very massy yet earthily matured demeanour is shown within the low-class background setting. In the end, it all works to the advantage of Karthikeya. One gets an impression that some versatility is at the display.


Director Koushik PegallapatiDirection by Koushik?

Koushik Pegallapati directs Chaavu Kaburu Challaga. The film’s story is simple, and in fact, routine. It is about a boy falling in love, and the girl rejects initially but ultimately falls in love. However, what makes it different are the critical changes to the setup and the standard trope characters.

So, here the girl is not just another ‘girl’ but a young widow. And the guy comes with a unique background of running a mortuary van. It is these characterisations that make a world of difference to a familiar story. The problem here is these are only surface-level changes. The ‘actual’ content is still the same.

The routineness hits once one is past the key changes mentioned above. The boy following the girl follows the standard stalking-hero stereotype until the expected happens. The entire first half is filled with one funny scenario after the other along this proposal track. Some of it works, and some don’t, while the rest falls flat. A lot depends on one’s likability to a morbid sense of humour. It is the key here.

A few hints are thrown regarding the subplot that could eventually tie to the main one in the first half. They do make one curious, but nothing happens beyond that in the beginning.

The second half takes the expected turn, bringing-fore the subplot related to the mother in the first half. It is key to the whole story and is actually well thought out, providing a parallel to a young widow’s main track. These are two women characters that have to move on with life. It is a progressive line and approach as far as the story is concerned.

However, the ‘progressive’ elements are not explored, and instead, they are used to serve the routine standard boy-girl love story template. The hero is key to the progress here instead of the ladies, and that’s where the routineness arrives. It shows that despite a good theme for commercial cinema, we are still well and thoroughly hero-centric, no matter at any level.

The connections between the ‘mother’, ‘heroine’ and her ‘father-in-law’ are all done on expected lines, but neatly. There is a huge air of predictability, which is the downside despite getting the whole thing right.

Overall, Chaavu Kaburu Challaga has a decent and progressive premise. Its set up is unique. But, the focus on standard and routine tropes and generating morbid fun using the setting give a neither here nor there kind of feeling. It could have been so much more, but what we get is a routine love story with a different backdrop.


Lavanya Tripathi -Chaavu Kaburu Challaga ReviewLavanya Tripathi and Others?

Lavanya Tripathi gets a different character than usual. She is good looks wise and adds to the movie via screen presence, but there is hardly anything regarding performance. Aamani, playing a slum woman part does justice to it. She lives it. Anasuya appears in an item song and comes across as very awkward with her moves in the video.

Murali Sharma who has become a familiar presence across the Telugu movies in recent years has another decent role. He is effective in the climax. The rest of the characters, including the side-kick comedian part by Bhadram could have been developed in a much better way.

Music Director Jakes BejoyMusic and Other Departments?

The music by Jakes Bejoy is alright. A couple of songs do feel nice to hear and are decently shot. The background score is so-so. The cinematography by Karm Chawla is okay. A raw and rusty look is presented, for the most part. The editing by Satya G is fine. The writing is good in parts when required. The comedy bits work sporadically.


Aamani Chaavu Kaburu Challaga ReviewHighlights?

Karthikeya

Storyline

Writing in Climax

Drawbacks?

Follows Routine Template

Formulaic

Boring Narration

No Big High


Murali Sharma - Chaavu Kaburu Challaga Movie ReviewAlternative Take

Well, you have a movie coming with a similar storyline within a short gap. It is the Bollywood movie Pagglait coming next week on Netflix. It is another tale of a young widow moving on narrated quirkily. But, it comes from the female perspective.

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes, In Parts

Will You Recommend It?

Yes, But With Huge Reservations

Chaavu Kaburu Challaga Review by Siddartha

Chaavu Kaburu Challaga Movie Review

— Chaavu Kaburu Challaga ends on an emotional and predictable note. Visit back for our detailed review soon.

— Finally, Balaraju has made some progress convincing Mallika.

— Chaavu Kaburu Challaga second half started with Anasuya’s item number!!!

First Half Report:

The first half of Chaavu Kaburu Challaga runs on a thin line banking heavily on comedy that has limited appeal due to its regressive and over the top nature. The second half is extremely crucial to make core emotion work.

Karthikeya has done his best performance-wise, and the rest are alright, so far.

— Balaraju is trying his best to convince Mallika to to marry him. That’s all about it for now.

— Basti Balaraju ( Kartikeya ) runs a funeral service. He falls in love with Mallika ( Lavanya ) in first sight who just lost her husband. He proposes her at the cremation site.

— Chaavu Kaburu Challaga show started. Basti Balaraju ( Kartikeya ) makes his entry with a song.

Chaavu Kaburu Challaga U.S. Premier report and first on net review soon. [ refresh ].

Preview: Chaavu Kaburu Challaga

It’s time that we watch the opening show of ‘Chavu Kaburu Challaga‘. One movie and it’s crucial for three key players. The first one is of course the lead actor Karthikeya who needs ‘Chaavu Kaburu Challaga’ to click because he is in need of a hit movie at this point of his career, badly.

Except for his debut movie’s success, there isn’t another successful movie in his credit. He took up a different subject altogether and let’s hope big time this deglamorised character would work for him. The second player for whom the movie is crucial is the director fo the film, Peggalapati Koushik.

Getting a chance from GA 2 Pictures for his debut movie and making them believe that his story of a dead body van driver’s love story would work was his first successful move. But, he needs a hit film to move forward and that depends on how he handled the subject that has undertones of philosophical touch on death and love.

The third key player is GA 2 Pictures aka Bunny Vasu. So far, they have an impeccable record for selecting good scripts and the script judgement of Bunny Vasu has been one of the greatest assets for the production house. Let’s hope that this movie strengthens that opinion further.

Not to forget the female lead, Lavanya Tripathi who will be seen in slightly a de-glam character playing a widow. This is definitely a different role for Lavanya who had always played lovey-dovey kind of heroine roles in Telugu movies. Let’s see if ‘Andala rakshasi’ proves her mettle at such roles, even.

As mentioned, it’s time to know whether the above-mentioned key players are going to deliver a successful movie or not. We’ll be back with a genuine ‘Chaavu Kaburu Challaga’ review from our mirchi9 team. Stay tuned, folks!