Movie: Sri Chidambaram Garu
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Sri Chakras Entertainments
Cast: Vamsi Tummala, Sandhya Vasishta, Gopinath, Sivakumar Matta, Kalpalatha Garllapati, Arun Kumar, Tulasi, Naidu Moram, Shankar Rao, and others
Music: Chandu Ravi
Dialogues: Nanda Kishore Emani
DOP: Akshay Ram Podishetti
Editor: Anwar Ali
Art: Vishnu Vardhan Pulla
Producers: Chinta Vineesha Reddy, Chinta Gopala Krishna Reddy
Screenplay and Directed by: Vinay Ratnam
Release Date: Feb 05, 2026
From the producers of “Ka” comes another film, which hit theatres today.
Let us take a look at its merits and demerits.
Story:
Solomon, known as Chidambaram (Vamsi Tummala), is mocked for his squint eye and grows up with a deep sense of inferiority.
To conceal it, he constantly wears goggles. Leela, a local girl (Sandhya Vasishta), develops feelings for him. When Solomon, a mason by profession, is assigned to build a toilet at her house, she begins to express her affection.
Gathering courage, Solomon eventually proposes, but a misunderstanding convinces him that she has rejected him because of his appearance. This belief drives him to take an extreme step.
Does he realise his error in judgment, and will he ever find confidence in himself and his appearance?
Artistes’ Performances:
Newcomer Vamsi Tummala is well suited to the role and delivers a restrained, sincere performance without veering into exaggeration or understatement. He convincingly portrays the role.
Sandhya Vasishta makes a strong impression with her screen presence and handles the Godavari dialect with authenticity.
Among the supporting cast, Kalpa Latha as Vamsi’s mother and Tulasi as Sandhya’s mother lend solid support and do full justice to their roles.
Technical Excellence:
Though made on a modest budget, the film stands out for its appealing cinematography. The visuals are striking and consistently pleasing to the eye.
The song “Velle Daarilona,” rendered by MM Keeravani, is melodious, lyrically meaningful, and easily the standout musical moment.
The film maintains a deliberately unhurried pace, but it at times bores us.
Highlights:
The pleasant first half
Natural performances
Drawback:
Slow pace of narration
Overly simple second half
Lacks a strong theatrical viewing experience
Analysis
“Sri Chidambaram Garu” belongs to the recent wave of low-budget, concept-driven Telugu films centered on simple stories and common men. Such films deserve encouragement. However, especially for debut directors, it is important to understand that simplicity in concept alone is not enough to create a satisfying theatrical experience.
In the current OTT-dominated era, audiences have limited patience for narratives that begin simply, progress without escalation, and conclude in the same understated tone.
This does not mean that “Sri Chidambaram Garu” is unwatchable. The film carries a decent premise, a positive message, and a few heart-warming moments. Yet, the plot is extremely thin, almost as delicate as Godavari poothareku. Stretching such a minimal storyline beyond two hours makes the viewing experience slightly taxing. A stronger central conflict could have elevated the film considerably.
The conflict here hinges largely on a simple misunderstanding, and the entire second half unfolds in a very straightforward manner, failing to sustain interest. The first half remains passable, aided by tender love moments and the familiar Godavari backdrop. Though the director attempts to link the hero’s emotional trauma and school dropout to the heroine’s story, the impact is limited in the end.
The fraud pastor episode in the second half is relevant to the narrative but is dragged longer than necessary. Similarly, the friend’s episode in Rajahmundry feels forced.
While the film’s core message that disability affects the body, not the heart, and that one must learn to love oneself before loving others is appreciable, the treatment remains too mild. The story and narration seem more suitable for an OTT platform like ETV Win rather than a theatrical setting.
Overall, “Sri Chidambaram Garu” is a message-oriented film, but its overly simple narration and wafer-thin plot make it feel longer than it should, even within a two-hour runtime.
Bottom-line: Too simple
