Chaarulatha

Plot

The story takes it off showing the conjoined twins Charu and Latha (both played by Priyamani). Charu and Latha lived in Vizag as one body and soul until Ravi (Skanda Ashok) comes into their lives. Ravi falls in love with one of the twins which creates differences between the two. Finally, their mother (Saranya) plans to separate their attached bodies through surgery and during which Latha dies. However, mysterious incidents take place as the dead twin seeks revenge on the other. Several twists take place in line as the story unfolds. She also sees the dead twin playing the violin they used to play in the past and the twin starts to come forward to reach her and disappears as Ravi touches Charu. Later, in the hospital, Ravi visits the twins' mother (Saranya) where she tries to tell Ravi something but is unable to do so. As the problems began to go down, Ravi again visits the twins' mother and she tells him something at the graveyard. Ravi goes to the cemetery, only to find that the real person who died was Charu and that Latha was impersonating Charu. Flashbacks reveal that after falling in love with Charu, Ravi comes to visit Charu finally as he was leaving town which makes Latha angry. Latha refuses to follow Charu to the balcony to see Ravi for the last time. Ravi leaves after giving a paper to the guard containing a picture of Charu, delighting Charu but leaves Latha outraged. Latha tears the picture angrily and this creates problem between the twins. Latha fights with Charu on the stairs and both of them fall from the stairs. In this, Charu dies and Latha calls her mother to help. After this, both of them are separated. In reality, after fighting with Ravi, she ties him up in chair and tells him the truth that she also loved him. Later, Charu burns the place to make Ravi escape and Latha stays inside there, refusing to leave unless Ravi tells that he, too, loves her. Latha's mother scolds and begs Ravi to save her only daughter. Ravi sacrifices his love to save Latha. The film ends with Ravi and Latha keeping flowers for Charu and Ravi sees Charu's soul smiling at him as Latha walks towards him.

Cast

Production

Priyamani was recruited to enact dual roles as conjoined twins in a film loosely based on the Thai horror film Alone. Malayalam actor Skanda Ashok was signed to play the male protagonist. Actors such as Saranya Ponvannan, Seetha and Vettaikaran Sai Sasi were signed on for crucial roles. Yoganand, Shabari and Kalidas penned the dialogues. The budget of the film was reported to be ₹60 million (US$940,000). Priyamani denied that the film was based on the Hollywood film Stuck on You, asserting that it had an "original storyline".

The film went on the floor on Ugadi festival day at Kanteerava studio Bangalore.

Soundtrack

The audio and trailer release function of Charulatha was held at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai. Hansraj Saxena, Dhananjayan Govind, Priyamani, Saranya Ponvannan, composer Vijay Antony, lyricist Madhan Karky alongside directors K. Bhagyaraj, K. S. Ravikumar and R. Kannan graced the event. Ravikumar released the audio and Bhagyaraj received it.

Release

The film was released in Kannada and Tamil version. The film was also dubbed in Malayalam and Telugu languages. While the Malayalam version was dubbed from Kannada, the Telugu version was dubbed from the Tamil print. The Tamil version received a "U" (Universal) certificate. Later it was dubbed in Hindi with same title.

The film was released on 21 September 2012.

Reception

Charulatha received mixed to positive reviews. In.com wrote that it "works in parts" and added that it was a "good movie in a horror genre". The New Indian Express' reviewer A Sharadhaa days that director Pon Kumar "does show signs of his hold on film making", further adding that it did not "seem to keep up to the hype", although Priyamani was lauded for her "splendid" and "stellar" performance. Srikanth Srinivasa from Rediff labelled it as "Priya Mani's show all the way" and that it was is a "brilliant film that could have been more emotionally appealing". Sify's critic noted that the film "turns out to be a watered down Indian remake which is neither spooky nor entertaining", going on to add: "The saving grace of the film is Priyamani’s twin role as otherwise the script and presentation is shoddy". Behindwoods rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, saying "For a horror film, there is not much of spookiness or eeriness but for the oft-repeated 'spirit’ual sojourns. Nevertheless Charulatha gets its brownie points for the novelty factor, good performance and fitting visual effects coupled with a fairly engaging narration."

Box office

The film below average mark at the box office ranging 20% - 35% occupancy on first day collected only ₹ 16.6 million (Both versions).The film under performed during its first weekend grossed ₹ 40 million (Both versions) despite having huge number of theaters.