What made me watch Chola was Sanal's terrific previous venture Ozhivudivasathe Kali (yet to see S Durga). Barring the solid performances of Joju George (as the molester) and Nimisha Sajayan (as the abused) and the stunning cinematography by Ajith Aacharya, I couldn't really take to Chola the same way I did with Ozhivudivasathe Kali. The transition from eerie drama to magical realism wasn't seamless and a random interjection of Stockholm Syndrome only made it worse. I like the way Sanal tackles the theme of oppression (this is the third in what one could call SOCU - Sanal's Oppression Cinematic Universe) but Chola takes things one step too far. This is one of the few films (in recent times) that makes effective use of its natural locales (Venu's Carbon is another). The ambiguity in (almost the entirety of) the second half and the climax left a bad taste in my mouth.