'Chakkora' Review: Pleasant Tunes Can't Lift a Dated Love Story

Cine Sarkar Editorial Desk | Our perspective is informed by publicly available reviews, audience reactions, and information surrounding the film.

‘Chakkora’, a romantic drama starring Sravan and Malaika T Vasupal, released in theatres on October 9. It is directed by Manga Srinivas and produced by Dr. Hemarao Chintada, with music by Prince Henry.

The setup

Ravana (Sravan), a carefree young man, falls for Julie (Malaika), a doctor. She turns him down at first, then sets a condition: he must not contact her in any way for 24 hours. Ravana passes the test, but when the time is up Julie has vanished. What happened to her, and how Ravana goes looking, is the story.

Performances

Sravan puts in an honest effort for a newcomer, and Malaika has a composed, natural presence. Seasoned actors like Brahmaji and Indraja are in the cast, but their roles are too thin to make use of them.

Direction and screenplay

Using the legend of the chakora bird as a metaphor for the love story is a nice touch. But both the story and its telling are firmly old school, and you can see every turn coming. The heavy, rhyme-driven dialogue sounds artificial, the comedy tracks don’t land, and the second half grows tedious as similar scenes repeat. The emotion never quite hits either.

Technical aspects

Prince Henry’s music is the one department that leaves a mark, with a couple of pleasant songs and a background score that adds some energy. The cinematography is functional, the editing needed to be tighter, especially in the second half, and the production values are ordinary.

What works

• Prince Henry’s songs and score
• Sincere performances from Sravan and Malaika
• The chakora bird metaphor

What doesn’t

• A predictable, dated story
• Forced rhyming dialogue
• Comedy that falls flat
• A repetitive second half and wasted senior actors

Cine Sarkar’s take

‘Chakkora’ has a good metaphor, listenable songs and a hard-working new pair. But there is nothing fresh in the writing, and the melodrama weighs it down. Weighing those strengths against those weaknesses, the Cine Sarkar Editorial Desk rates it 2/5. It is only for viewers with a soft spot for old-fashioned love stories and their songs.

Cine Sarkar verdict: The new pair is sincere and Prince Henry’s songs please, but formula writing never lets Chakkora take flight.

Rating: 2/5