Naga Chaitanya put in a lot of hard work for his latest film Thandel. He went the extra mile to transform into a fisherman look and attain the physical makeover for the same. This film is based on the group of fishermen who were arrested by Pakistan forces during an international fishing mishap. Let us see if this intense action drama based on real life incidents lives up to the expectations.
Story: Raju(Chaitanya) and Bujji Thalli(Sai Pallavi) are neck deep in love. Raju is a fisherman by nature and is essentially the leader of his fishermen group. They now devise a plan to go to Gujarat to fish there for 9 months a year and collect money. Bujji is against this as she can’t stay away from Raju. But they decide to go anyway and this is when things go wrong as they unintentionally enter Pakistani waters and get arrested by their troopers. What follows? How do these people return to India?
What about on screen performances?
Chaitanya has undergone a significant makeover in terms of facial appearance. He has built a ripped physique as well. Performance wise, he has done a pretty decent job with his subtle emotions. He has matured a fair bit as an actor with this film. Sai Pallavi is anyway a natural actress, and it comes naturally to her to play such emotionally engraving roles. Her nuanced performance in cute love moments and then in emotional stretches are very good. Hindi actor Prakash Belawadi as the Pakistani jailer is alright. The rest of the cast including Mahesh Achanta, Shiva Alapati deliver what’s expected of them. But the film primarily revolves around Chay and Sai Pallavi so there’s not much scope for the rest.
What about off screen talents?
Director Chandoo Mondeti picked the story of real life fishermen from Andhra Pradesh who got stuck in Pakistan amidst extreme pressure and hardships. while there is the excitement factor that is usually associated with films based on real life, there is also the predictability factor as people know the hero will save the day at the end of the day. Chandoo primarily focused on the love track and emotions between the lead pair and rightly confined the Pakistani part. But there’s certain disconnect when it comes to the Pakistani scenes as those people keep speaking in Telugu with the fishermen characters which is cinematically acceptable but takes away authenticity. The first half keeps going on a flat note without much happening. The love moments between the lead pair come out decently. The songs by DSP are top notch. Especially, the Bujji Thalli song is brilliant. Same with the Hilessa song as well. But there’s not much emotionally attached content regarding the staging to highlight these songs further. Technically, the film has superior visuals and music but the lack of adequate storytelling panache and lackluster narrative mean that these technical elements don’t quite add up to the whole essence of the film.
What’s Hot?
- Songs
- Few Cute moments in love track
- Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi excel
What’s Not?
- Pakistani episodes
- Lack of engaging scenes in both halves
- Climax doesn’t pay off as desired
Verdict: Thandel is an action drama inspired by real events involving Telugu fishermen caught in Pakistan. While the narrative could have been more gripping, the film has its moments, especially in the second half, which carries better engagement. Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi deliver impressive performances, adding emotional depth to the story. Though it has its shortcomings, the film makes for a passable watch.
Telugubulletin.com rating: 2.5/5