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Join UsStar Cast: Kalyani Priyadarshan, Naslen, Chandu Salimkumar, Vijayaraghavan, Sandy Master, Santhy Balachandran, Aadam, Nishanth Sagar, Tovino Thomas, and Sarath Sabha.
Director: Dominic Arun
What’s Good: The film is technically brilliant and has top-notch visuals. The CGI and some visuals, probably made using AI, look impressive, giving it a Hollywood-level quality.
What’s Bad: The plot is wafer-thin. Essentially, the film attempts to establish a universe and introduce the audience to the characters of that world. It is basically a two-hour and thirty-minute exercise in character establishment and world-building, with very little substance in the plot.
Loo Break: In the first half, there is a birthday party where the characters of the film are getting to know each other, and everyone, including the villain, is present. If you want, you can take a break during this time.
Watch or Not?: If you enjoy Hollywood-style superhero films based on comic books, you can give this one a try, but don’t expect anything mind-blowing.
Language: Malayalam (Original). Dubbed versions include Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, and Kannada
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 151 Minutes
User Rating:
The film introduces us to the world of Chandra, played by Kalyani Priyadarshan, who has been summoned to Bangalore. She is no longer just human, although she was once, but has now become something more. Chandra works night shifts at a café. Sunny (Naslen) and Venu (Chandu Salimkumar) live across the street from her apartment. Naslen has a crush on Chandra. One day, while at work, Chandra’s colleague is harassed by a gangster with connections to the organ mafia. Chandra steps in to help, and this incident sets off a chain reaction.
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra Movie Review: Script Analysis
The weakest aspect of Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is its script. Character establishment and world-building seem to be the film’s primary purpose, but the issue is that it lacks a solid plot and fails to convey its ideas effectively. For example, in Iron Man (2008), the post-credit scene teased that something bigger was coming. Yet even without a continuation, the film could stand on its own because it had a proper character arc, a compelling villain, and a strong story.
In contrast, here we are left with more questions than answers. The world-building is underdeveloped, and although there are several cameos, the same problem persists: a lack of character depth and meaningful arcs. Stripped of its supernatural elements, the central plot is very simple and comes across as lazy writing.
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra Movie Review: Star Performance
The performances were quite good. Although the first half had several cringeworthy moments, the lead cast’s performances helped balance things out and kept it from feeling cringey. Naslen plays a lovable goofball, a role we’ve often seen him in, and as always, he pulls it off with ease, though there’s nothing particularly new here.
Kalyani Priyadarshan, on the other hand, was phenomenal. We haven’t seen her in such an avatar before, and she shines, especially in the fight sequences. Tovino Thomas appears in a cameo and does justice to his brief role. Sandy Master, as a police officer, deserves a special mention for effectively portraying his character’s prejudice and ideology.
Sarath Sabha also performed well in the role he was assigned. The first post-credit scene includes a surprise cameo; while the character doesn’t add much to the story, the fight choreography is quite impressive.
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Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra Movie Review: Direction, Music
Direction by Dominic Arun stands out mainly because of the mediocre script. As mentioned before, the visuals and CGI were impressive, and the director made the film visually appealing while extracting solid performances from the actors. However, there were several instances in the first half that could have been shortened. Even so, the film was never boring, and the dialogue had bits of comedy, some of which worked, while others fell flat. Overall, the direction was good but not great, especially since he also had a hand in writing the script. Some camera movements were particularly well executed.
The film lacked an iconic or catchy background score. Jakes Bejoy’s music was good and enjoyable, fitting the film to some extent, but it was neither impressive nor outstanding. It was not what one would expect from such a talented composer. While the score did elevate certain scenes, it ultimately lacked anything truly memorable or iconic.
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra Movie Review: The Last Word
It is a commendable attempt at starting a franchise based on indigenous mythological stories of Kerala, intertwining them with the modern day, and presenting them in a unique manner. However, it could have been executed much better. The film leaves the audience with many questions, but as a start, it is good, so it is worth giving a try.
It feels like this story would have worked better as a web series at first, introducing the characters and the world in detail. Once everything was properly set up through the series, a film could have followed to take the story forward. That approach might have been more effective for the kind of world-building and character establishment attempted here.
Heads up: Don’t leave the theatre right after the film, as there are two post-credit scenes. The first appears immediately and features a fight sequence, while the second comes a little later and hints at the franchise’s future.
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra Trailer
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra released on 28th August, 2025.
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