A Misdirected Mess of Romance, Patriotism, and Political Propaganda

RATING – ⭐ ⭐ 2/5*

THANDEL REVIEW MOVIE TALKIES:

Chandoo Mondeti’s Thandel is actually a messy and confusing affair because it fails to establish its own identity. The film becomes clueless in determining its motive—whether to be a romantic drama, a patriotic narrative, a thriller, or a political-social commentary. The writing is at fault, as are those who accepted this script. Initially, I thought it might take the “La La Land” or “Veer Zaara” route, but no. The writer and director decided to create a terrible mess in the second half, while the first half was quite decent.

The film follows a fisherman, Raju (Naga Chaitanya), who is a messiah for everyone in his village and is eventually made the leader, also known as Thandel. The fishermen of the village travel 2000 km to Gujarat for fishing, spending only three months at home. Raju has a childhood love, Satya (Sai Pallavi), who is equally passionate about him. However, she starts to contemplate shortening their nine-month separation out of fear of unbearable consequences, but Raju refuses and continues to go to Gujarat for fishing. She stops taking his calls and continuously ignores him to make him furious and help him realize his mistake. Satya even decides to marry another guy, but just as the wedding approaches, Raju and his 21 friends accidentally cross the coastal border of India and are captured by Pakistanis. Will they be able to escape?

Thandel is a mix of multiple elements such as romance, jealousy, heroism, social issues, political events, patriotism, the India-Pakistan conflict, and, last but not least, a bit of propaganda. I leave that part to you because not everyone views political statements as propaganda; such perceptions differ for each individual. However, I would like to comment on how bad the screenplay is. The jail sequence was overly dramatic; Raju’s insistence in the final scene, when the other guy lacked valid ID proof; the uproar over Article 370; Satya’s non-violent movement for money; India vs. Pakistan hatred; and the political debate surrounding it, and finally, Satya accepting Raju as he was despite being the one who had an issue with his job. What suddenly changed for her? If she hadn’t been so stubborn about that, the situation could have felt more emotional rather than the egoistic and irrational manner they exhibited during their conflicts. Who approved of such a mess, with twists coming one after another, each more illogical than the last? Seriously, this could have been so much better as an emotional romantic drama, but they had to introduce various national issues and political crises, ultimately undermining its core essence.

Naga Chaitanya, as a mass hero, is watchable here, but otherwise is strictly average. The characterization is better for Raju, played by him, than for Satya, portrayed by Sai Pallavi. However, both couldn’t form a chemistry. All the romantic songs fall flat, while some merely showcase their dancing skills, even if they are out of context. Sai Pallavi was okay too, but is that enough? A big no. I will always love her work like Gargi, but this is not even half as good. Prakash Belawadi, as a Pakistani jailer, was decent (I don’t know why Raju would shake hands with the man who beat him a few days ago), while Divya Pillai, Rao Ramesh, Kalyani Natarajan, Parvateesam, Babloo Prithiveeraj, and others somehow passed the time.

Thandel has 3-4 action blocks that are crowd-pleasing. The cinematography is fine, and the music is occasionally good. The choreography for the songs seems out of context, while the editing in the second half makes the entire affair a big bore. Thandel’s production value appears to be huge, as the film is shot on a large scale. I wish they had included hit music and proper emotional arcs here to justify its scale. Unfortunately, the film is shattered into pieces due to its messy writing and flawed storytelling. Chandoo Mondeti’s vision is outdated and bland. He fails to pull things together while losing your connection with the film every 10 minutes in the second half. As a whole, it’s a big waste of talent, money, and opportunity that has intentionally squandered its own good content. Watch it for a couple of moving scenes; the rest is skippable.

Censor board asks makers to trim breast close-up scene from Badass Ravi Kumar –