Thandel Movie Review: Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi are a hit combo in Telugu film industry. Both of them have already paired up for “Lovestory” and bagged a decent hit. So, the announcement of Geetha Arts’ ‘Thandel’ with the hit pair garnered fans attention. The news of the film being based on a true story added to the excitement. Devi Sri Prasad’s songs also created a good buzz for the film. Allu Aravind’s publicity strategy has given the film more hype.
The movie came at a time when Naga Chaitanya is also waiting for a hit to make a comeback. He showed a lot of faith in this film from the start. Since the shooting was completed, he has been promoting it with the dialogues from the film. Has this film lived up to its expectations? Has Naga Chaitanya bagged a hit? To know, we have to go into the story…
What Is Thandel About?
Raju (Naga Chaitanya) and Satya (Sai Pallavi) belongs fishermen community. Since childhood, they have been close to each other. Raju’s livelihood is fishing in the sea. He spends nine months at sea and three months in the village. During those nine months, Raju and Satya are consumed with longing for each other. They talk to each other on phone once a month, and both of them eagerly wait for that day every month. Satya, who cannot bear the distance, tells him not to go fishing anymore, fearing the danger he might face if he goes hunting, and asks him to stay in the village and do some other work.
Raju promises to do so, but goes for fishing in the sea for one last time. Knowing that he lied to her, Satya gets upset and becomes distant from Raju. At that time, Raju goes to fish in sea but their boat, with 22 people, was hit by a huge storm. Due to this, they accidentally enter the Pakistani waters. This leads to unexpected consequences. Pakistan navy arrests the entire team and puts them in a Pakistani jail. This further distances Satya and Raju. Will they ever meet again? What tortures Raju faced in the prison? These questions form the core story of the movie.
Thandel Movie Review: Analysis
This is a film based on real incidents that happened in the lives of fishermen in Uttarandhra. This story is known to everyone in real life. To make a realistic story into a film, some cinematic liberty and commercial elements must be added. Director Chandoo Mondeti did just that. The director laid the foundation for the story by showing Satya. Her heart was is torn apart by Raju, who goes fishing in the sea against her will. The story that started with love between the two progresses with distance and longing.
The director wrote some scenes for Raju’s character to show everyone that he is a true leader. All of these scenes worked out well for the film. But, the scenes about the sand mining, dialect, and language feels a little bit unnatural Showing some real life scenes honestly and realistically would’ve been a plus, because it is essentially a movie about a real fisherman. That did not happen here.
More cinematic liberty was taken. It is not that easy to retell a familiar story. You have to please everyone. You have to try to present it in a new way. In this story, director Chandoo focused mostly on elevating the emotion rather than showing it in a different and unique way. Because of this, the first half of the movie feels a little lagging.
Highs and Lows
Devi Sri Prasad’s music, Hylesso, and Shivayya’s song provide some relief. The visuals of the storm in the sea, and the hero and others getting stuck in it were amazing. It would have been better if the scenes of Raju’s team entering the Pakistani waters and being arrested by the Navy Department had been written more strongly. Patriotic scenes are seen in the second half. At some places.. the emotion felt by the characters is felt by the audience. Many scenes in the Pakistani prison are far from reality.
The scene where the heroine, Satya, goes to Gujarat and gets their money back was very poorly written. Her desire to save Raju and his team, who were stuck in Pakistan, and her struggle at Delhi were not touching. The scenes were good, but they can’t evoke the feeling the director wanted. But, the scene where one man out of 22 people not coming back and going back to Pakistani border rejecting love and marriage gives a high for audience. That scene seems realistic and emotionally very strong. However, director Chandu… seems to be in conflict with both love story and patriotism for the entirety of the film.
Acting Performances
We saw the couple Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi in ‘Love Story.’ They are a good pair on screen. In terms of acting, neither of them can be called out. They became the main pillars of the film. We won’t see Naga Chaitanya or Sai Pallavi on the screen, who we witness are ‘Thandel’ Raju and ‘Chittithalli’ Satya. The chemistry between the two of them was amazing. This couple is the reason why some ordinary scenes also gives a great feeling on screen. From the clothes to the manner of speaking to the accent, the director has planned it well.
He tried to match the Srikakulam accent to the maximum. In the song Hylesso, the hero and heroine played a tandavam. However, Sai Pallavi, who is known for being energetic and lively on the screen, was seen mostly crying in the film. Her fans may not like that. But, she made sure that it’s not boring with her superb acting skills. ‘Aadukalam’ Naren and Prakash Belavadi were also good. Kalpalatha, Pridhvi, Karunakaran, Mahesh and others did well according to their roles.
Technical Aspects
As for technical aspects. Shyam Dutt’s camera work is an asset to the film. But, there were some drawbacks in the film. At times, Devi Sri Prasad’s songs and background music dragged the film forward without audience noticing the drawbacks. We should say Devi Sri Prasad was a hero behind the scenes for this film. His background score in some emotional scenes will surely bring tears to your eyes. Director failed to deliver any sparks in terms of dialogues. People know the real story, so he should’ve focused more on screenplay, which he didn’t. Geetha arts gave everything for the film making, the movie looks very grandeur on the screen.
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Conclusion
Stories of love and patriotism are evergreen. They have no expiration date. No matter how many times you watch them, you never get bored. This is a film that combines both of these. The lead pair’s acting, music, and visuals are perfect. This makes the audience forget the flaws in the film. Thandel will not disappoint audience
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