The last thing you expect from a Lohithadas movie is that it starts with a song choreographed with dozens of dancers, wearing Army uniforms. It's in a dream sequence, and establishes a few home truths about the character of Chakkaramuthu. We are warned that this will be run-of-the-mill stuff. Even when the narrative picks up a little, our disappointment lingers.

The master filmmaker Lohithadas is not seen in this film. Though expectations were high when he cast Dileep as a mentally retarded character -- the actor has created a niche for himself with such marginalised roles -- the film offers nothing new to Dileep. The role is repetitive.

Aravindakshan (Dileep) is a sought-after tailor, specialising in blouses, working in a shop owned by Kumaran (Cochin Haneefa). Despite his evident mental difficulty, Aravindakshan is shown as worldly-wise, with his own way of dealing with things. He is in love with Anitha (Kavya Madhavan), who he has taken care of since childhood. In fact, he is known as her Black Cat security. We are made to believe that this love is reciprocated, and will fulfil the conflict quotient of the story later. But the director has other ideas: he introduces a suave contemporary lover for Anitha in the form of Jeevan (Jishnu) towards the beginning of second half.

From here, the proceedings resemble love stories made in the eighties -- hiding the relationship from the parents (here it is the single mother); parents opposing it; the girl running away (with the help of her childhood chum) to her lover; and finally realising that he is a bad guy.

Dileep's character may remind us of Kunjikoonan, but the way he goes about it is still refreshing. He deserved a better deal in this film. But Chakkaramuthu may be destined to go the Pachakuthira way, into oblivion.

Kavya Madhavan gets more mileage in this film than the hero, especially in the second half when the complete focus of the story is on her character. And, she proves to be worthwhile, but her character is not in the same league as Manju Warrier's in Kanmadam or even Meera Jasmine's in Kustooriman; women of substance created by the same director.

It is relieving to see Sai Kumar in a positive role after a long while as a jovial police officer. Jishnu is the surprise package: even though his role is blurrily etched, he succeeds in grabbing our attention.

No matter how positively we feel towards Lohithadas, we are left pondering whether he was really inspired to make Chakkaramuthu. Or was it just the prospect of exploiting Dileep's box office status that motivated him to make the film?

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