Chinna Chinna Aasai

At times, though, the film seems overly captivated by Varanasi. The city is portrayed as a place of wisdom and healing, bordering on excessive romanticism. Fortunately, Faiz Siddiq's cinematography keeps it grounded; his visuals capture real texture in the ghats, crowded lanes, and riverside life, avoiding the flattening effect of a tourist’s view. It feels lived in rather than just admired from a distance. This film has a slow-burn quality, by design, but it also runs about fifteen to twenty minutes longer than necessary. Some detours don't add much, especially a subplot involving a Tamil association member who initially shows interest in Leela but later becomes overly nosy about her and Madhavan, which contributes little to the story.

Unfortunately, these are the only good things about the drama. Its writing, in particular, is heavily underwhelming. Even though the movie unfolds pretty much like director C Prem Kumar’s ’96 (2018), Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), or even MT Vasudevan Nair’s Oru Cheru Punchiri (2000), one of the major issues with Chinna Chinna Aasai is that the conversations between the central duo are barely interesting. Not that they ought to have discussed highly engaging topics, but we simply don’t feel any emotional connection to the dialogues. Basically, their conversations are quite soulless.