The Trailer of Thandel barely serves up anything novel. Blossoming romance in a Srikakulam village, two actors in their 30s doing Nibba-Nibbi scenes (a la Sridevi Soda Center), the familiar Uppena aesthetics, and loads of bland heroism against a hate-filled Pakistani establishment. The action moments as seen in the Trailer are pretty pedestrian. There is nothing out of the ordinary in the plotting either: the film is based on some real-life events that have been fictionalized through cinematic heroism.
Director Chandoo Mondeti might show hints of imaginativeness in how Naga Chaitanya's character plays out in the second half. But that's about it.
At this point, Thandel's fate rests mainly on Devi Sri Prasad's songs and Sai Pallavi's ability to inject charm even into ordinary scenes. On his part, presenter Allu Aravind has said that Thandel will be at the top in Naga Chaitanya's filmography in terms of its box-office gross. This is not saying much for a film that has been made on a budget of Rs 75 Cr. Thandel's potential in the Hindi market has always been a moot question.
Thandel will head to theatres on February 7th.
