35Chinna Katha Kaadu (transl. 35 Not a small story) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film written and directed by Nanda Kishore Emani in his directorial debut.[2] The film features Nivetha Thomas, Priyadarshi Pulikonda and Vishwadev Rachakonda in lead roles.[3] The film was released on 6 September 2024 to positive reviews from critics.[4] It was featured at the 55th IFFI in the Indian Panorama section.[5][6]
Plot
The story is set in a traditional Brahmin household in Tirupati, where Saraswati is a homemaker and her husband Prasad works as a bus conductor in TTD. Their kids — Arun and Varun — complete their simple and beautiful middle-class lives.
Arun, the elder of the sons, is curious by nature. He likes to ask questions and learn the why of everything. His only question nobody seems to know the answer to: how can zero, a number which has no value, increase the value of another number when placed to its right? Arun struggles with mathematics in school. However, his school promotes him until 6th grade, despite him scoring zeros consistently. This worries Prasad.
A stereotypical maths teacher named Chanakya Varma joins Arun and Varun's school. He appears arrogant and strict, but cares for his students' future. He addresses his students by their marks in mathematics to encourage competitive spirit. "Zero" Arun pesters Chanakya with his questions, which irritates the teacher. He tries disciplining him, which makes Arun rebellious.
Then, Chanakya suggests the father of the class topper and Arun's best friend Pavan to shift him to a residential school in Nellore. This shatters Arun as one of his only friends, who remains loyal despite Arun's poor marks, is leaving him. Chanakya also suggests that the principal Buchi Reddy and Prasad demote Arun to the 5th grade (Varun's grade) in order to get him to work on his maths foundation. Prasad agrees to it but this enrages Saraswati, however. Over a course of events, Arun is publicly challenged to score 35 marks (the passing grade) in the annual exam. The rest of the story is about how the seemingly valueless zero ignites events that test the family's resilience and unity, and stirs up rifts and friendships in his class. It's not a small story (Chinna Katha Kadhu), as Arun's father often says.
Abhay Shankar as Varun Sharma, Saraswati's & Prasad's younger son and Arun's younger brother.
Ananya as Kiranmyee "Kiran", Arun's best friend and Buchi Reddy's grand daughter.
Krishna Teja as "PDR" Murthy, Saraswati's elder brother, Prasad's brother-in-law and Arun and Varun's maternal uncle.
Production
The film was produced by Srujan Yarabolu and Siddharth Rallapally under the banners of Suresh Productions, S Originals, and Waltair Productions.[7][8] The film's budget was reportedly ₹10 crore.[1] The film's story is set in Tirupati.[9] The cast, including Nivetha Thomas, underwent training from the dialect coach and co-writer of the movie Prashanth, in the local Telugu dialect, covering phonetics and lexical aspects, as well as its distinct Tamil influences.[10] Nivetha underwent physical transformation, gaining weight, to portray the character Saraswati in the film.[11][12]
Aditya Devulapally of The New Indian Express gave a rating of 4 out of 5 and, cited the film as a "heartfelt love letter to childhood curiosity" with extended praise to the direction, screenplay and the music.[24]Eenadu gave a positive review with particular praise to screenplay, dialogues, Nanda Kishore Emani's work and the performances of the lead cast.[25] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu called it "an uplifting tale of triumph" while praising performance of Nivetha Thomas and the child actors.[26]
Sruthi Kuruganti of Telangana Today stated in her review that, "The charm of “35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu” lies in its simplicity and humanism. The subtle interplay between mathematics and human relationships creates a layered story that celebrates the beauty of questioning and learning, both inside and outside the classroom".[27] Calling Nivetha Thomas's performance as "stellar", Avad Mohammad of OTTPlay praised the dialogues and background score. He further stated, "A lot of detailing has gone when it comes to locations, costumes, and sets. All this was showcased so well and became a character in the film".[28]
