Chithha

Eeswaran is a government employee from Palani who bonds with his eight-year old niece Sundari and is always protective about her. Eeswaran also has a couple of close friends, one of whom happens to be a undercover cop named Vadivelu, whose niece Ponni and Sundari are also good friends. Unable to comprehend her elder sister’s romantic conversation with her boyfriend, Ponni assumes that a bevy of deers is present in an forest area close to the school and asks Sundari if she would be interested in going to see the animals after school hours.

The two girls plan to leave Eeswaran and head to the area on their own. Ponni and Sundari board a taxi to the area as per the plan, but Sundari gets scared and leaves Ponni, who alone goes to see the area. The next day, Ponni's father accuses Eeswaran of assaulting Ponni, but Vadivelu finds that Eeswaran was innocent and apologizes to him. One day, Sundari tries to find her mother, but gets kidnapped by a notorious pedophile. Eeswaran sets on a crusade to save Sundari, where they finally save Sundari and admits her to the hospital after being abused by the pedophile.

Eeswaran finds that the police has captured the culprit and stabs him only to find that the culprit is actually Ponni's abuser. Eeswaran's girlfriend Shakti shares about her tragic past of being assaulted and ask him to forget about his vengeance. Eeswaran agrees and takes care of Sundari. A year later, the police find a burnt corpse of the pedophile, implying that Eeswaran had learnt about the pedophile's identity and killed him.

• Siddharth as Eeswaran "Ees", Sundari's uncle (Chithha)
• Nimisha Sajayan as Sakthi, Eeswaran's love interest
• Sahasra Shree as Sundari "Settai", Eeswaran's niece
• Anjali Nair as Sundari's mother and Eeswaran's sister-in-law

The film was produced by Siddharth under his banner, Etaki Entertainment. On April 17, 2023, Siddharth's birthday, Kamal Haasan unveiled the first-look poster and the film's title.[3][4] The major portions of the film were shot in Palani.[5] The filming was wrapped up in April 2023.[6] The cinematography of the film was by Balaji Subramanyam, and the editing was handled by Suresh A. Prasad.

The songs for the film were composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Santhosh Narayanan,[7][8] while the background score was composed by Vishal Chandrashekhar.

Chithha
Album cover
Soundtrack album by Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Santhosh Narayanan Background Score: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Released	2023
Recorded	2023
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	12:38
Language	Tamil
Label	Think Music
Producer	Dhibu Ninan Thomas, Santhosh Narayanan, Vishal Chandrashekhar
Dhibu Ninan Thomas chronology
Nadhi (2022) Chithha (2023)
Santhosh Narayanan chronology
Dasara (2023) Chithha (2023)
Vishal Chandrashekhar chronology
Soppana Sundari (2023) Chithha (2023)
External audio
Chithha - Jukebox on YouTube

The film was released on September 28, 2023.[9]

This film received widespread critical acclaim from critics. Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "A sensitive, powerful film that breaks conventional rules of heroism."[10] M. Suganth of The Times of India gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Siddharth's Chithha is a hard-hitting and deeply unsettling tale of abuse."[11] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 4/5 stars and wrote "This is easily Siddharth's best performance by far. It is painful to watch him suffer through it all without respite."[12] Janani K of India Today gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "a much-needed film with a solid message."[13]

Thinkal Menon of OTTplay gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Chithha is one of the must-watch films of the year, thanks to the terrific performances from lead actors, intriguing screenplay and the originality with which a sensitive subject is handled."[14] Rajasekar S. of The Federal gave the film a positive review, praised it for its portrayal of the pain and suffering of child abuse victims, and noted, "Chithha will go down as one of the best Tamil films of this year. It is a must-watch for its message, exemplary writing, and performances."[15]

Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Handling the sensitive issue of child sexual abuse with care, Chithha marks a befitting resurgence for both its director SU Arun Kumar and lead actor Siddharth"[16]

Krishna Selvaseelan of the Tamil Guardian said the film “tears out the viewer’s heart and holds it ransom - an impressive feat”. “SU Arun Kumar has delivered a gut-wrenching thriller, displaying a little horror whilst insinuating a lot,” he added, giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars.[17]

A short film from Malayalam named Based on a True Story (2017) which is written, directed and produced by Rajesh Ambattu was with the same plot line & story was released on YouTube.

• Chithha at IMDb