Film: Thandel
Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Sai Pallavi, Aadukalam Naren, Jabardasth Mahesh, Karunakaran, Divya Pillai, Prakash Belawadi and others
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Shamdat Sainudeen
Producer: Bunny Vas
Director: Chandoo Mondeti
Release date: February 7, 2025
Rating: 2/5
After the successful ‘Love Story’, Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi got together again for ‘Thandel’ which was released on Friday. Chandoo Mondeti is the director and this is his third film with Naga Chaitanya. Top producer Allu Aravind is the presenter of this film, while Bunny Vas is the producer. The story is based on some real incidents, according to the makers. Naga Chaitanya needs a good break and he is confident about this film and also worked hard to get into the transformation for this character. Here is the story and how it fares.
Story
The story happens in a village near Srikakulam. The villagers, mostly fishermen, depend on the sea for their livelihood. They go into the sea for fishing and return only after many months. Thandel Raju (Naga Chaitanya) is a fisherman who goes into the sea while his love interest Satya (Sai Pallavi) keeps waiting for him. Both fall in love deeply and Raju calls he Bujji Talli. A fisherman loses his life while they go into the sea. After the incident, Satya is scared and asks Raju not to go into the sea if he really loves her and Raju promises her so. But Raju brekes his promise and goes into the sea along with other villagers. After a rainstorm, Raju, along with other fishermen are caught by Pakistan police. What happens there, how Raju and others come out of Pakistan jail is the crux of the story.
Analysis
The makers in their pre-release publicity said that ‘Thandel’ story is based on real incidents that happened to a fisherman in a village near Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. They took an incident and added a fictional story to it. Chandoo Mondeti is a good director with films like ‘Karthikeya’, ‘Premam’ (a remake) and the sequel to ‘Karthikeya’. When it comes to ‘Thandel’ though he has taken the real story, at one point the story goes like Mani Ratnam’s ‘Roja’. The big difference between these two films is, ‘Roja’ provides a patriotic angle with a high quotient, while ‘Thandel’ completely fails.
Director Chandoo shows the first half completely focused on the lead pair’s love story which is shown well. The chemistry between Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi comes out in a nice manner and realistic way. Though there are a few parts like when a fisherman played by Mime Gopi dies, the audience is confused whether he is husband or brother of Divya Pillai. Actually, the director narrated the first half about their love without much story, so they are only interesting in parts.
When it comes to the second half, when Raju and other fishermen are in a Pakistani jail, the director completely fails to show these episodes in an interesting way. The director couldn’t come out with an emotional touch in the second half. The episode where the Muslims in the jail perform circuncision to a kid is completely unnecessary to this story. But it seems the director highlighted that episode and also a political touch to put it forcefully, which actually is not related to the story. The director used more cinematic scenes in the second half, especially the Pakistan episodes.
Also, Satya goes silent protesting against a Gujarati owner. After that she meets the Central Minister’s daughter who resemblances Mani Ratnam’s ‘Roja’. But the director is unable to create the impact of patriotism or emotion here in this film, whereas in ‘Roja’, you get goosebumps for some scenes, especially the flag scene. Even in ‘Thandel’ the director used the same pattern where Raju puts a flag on fire, but it is not effective. The Wagah border episodes also were not written in a proper way and it was completed hurriedly. The Aadhaar card is missing and the later scenes are too cinematic. Though everyone in the unit speaks high about the second half, it is disappointing to generate curiosity.
When it comes to the performance, Sai Pallavi steals the show. She is a proven actress and once again she did it as Satya or Bujji Thalli. Her expressions and the way she portrays her character in a more natural way steals the show. Definitely, this film depends a lot on her performance and her star power. Naga Chaitanya worked hard to get into the role of Raju and it shows his sincere efforts to transform into it. His efforts are good, but he can’t help regarding the content. One can see his efforts on the screen and elated in a few scenes especially in the second half. There are a few Tamil actors like Aadukulam Naren, Karunakaran, Divya Pillai, with no expressions on their faces. When the director makes a film with a real story, he should rope in Telugu actors to get the right expressions and accent. Dubbing for these actors in Srikakulam accent seems unrealistic. The actors who played the role of Pakistani soldiers did their part well. The dialogues are good and Devi Sri Prasad’s music also comes out nicely. The cinematography is effective.
Finally, ‘Thandel’ is definitely not up to the mark as it falls short of expectations. The first half is good with Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi’s chemistry and their love, but the second half is completely dragged out and there are some unnecessary scenes. While watching the film one can feel that there is something missing. I am from Srikakulam, thus I find the accent a little strange. But it might sound good if they put some emotion into it.
