Today’s release “Cheliya” has evoked mixed response from both critics and audiences. While some liked the emotional love story in the film, many are disappointed with the lag in second half. However, there are two important scenes in the second half that are spoiled due to bad making.
The scene where heroine wears Cap of an officer, which is shown in the trailer also, is expected to have some patriotic touch. But it ended up as a bad scene as it is portrayed as a mere egoistic episode. Lovers of films like Roja and Bombay expected a patriotic and sentimental touch here, but that’s largely missing.
At the same time, there are scenes related to Pakistan flag and Afghanistan embassy and they went like a zap. Had Maniratnam dealt these scenes with much more detailing and layering, definitely, they would have created goosebumps. But with director Sir handling them in a simple tone, the film lost its direction midway.
Otherwise, Cheliya has some good moments where Maniratnam would have talked more about Kargil War’s popular officers like Nachiketa, a fighter pilot, who was caught by Pakistan as Prisoner Of War and later returned to Indian forces again.
