Chatha Pacha: The Ring of Rowdies Movie Review | Vishal Menon | THR India

Vishal Menon reviews Chatha Pacha, the new action comedy from director Advaith Nayar that’s being marketed as India’s first WWE-style wrestling movie. Vishal praises the film’s nostalgic power, beginning with a flashback of three little boys wrestling on their parents’ double cot—a visual that transports 90s and 2000s kids back to when they refused to believe wrestling was fake. He highlights how the film explores sibling rivalry through matches where real-life fights mirror wrestling bouts that were meant to be staged, drawing parallels to the OG Malayalam wrestling comedy Mutharamkunnu PO directed by Sibi Malayil.

The scenes within the ring are so well choreographed that Vishal feels like he’s watching ringside, inches away from beads of sweat flying toward him. He notes that leads Arjun Ashokan and Roshan Mathew channel the biggest sibling war of childhood—Kane and Undertaker—while Vishak Nair delivers the film’s most interesting character as the complex antagonist Cherian. Vishal acknowledges the writing falters with rushed details and unanswered questions, but when a two-and-a-half-hour film feels two-and-a-half minutes long, the crew has done something right. Chatha Pacha may not be a Stone Cold stunner, but works as a lovingly made tribute to boys who dared to try it at home.