‘Thandel’ starring Naga Chaithanya and Sai Pallavi in the lead navigates a powerful, inspiring true incident of 22 brave fishermen from Srikakulam who lost their way into the Pakistan waters and were imprisoned for breaching the border code and their story of return to their loved ones.
‘Thandel’ Movie Plot and Premise
In the village of Srikakulam, generational fishermen have been voyaging the sea for fishing near Gujarat for a contractor for 9 months a year and stay back for only three. Raju and Sathya are soulmates who grew up together and are blissfully in love with the former frequenting the sea following the footsteps of his father, who was the Thandel (Leader of the Ship). While their expeditions last such a long period, the women are understandably worried for their loved ones who lose their lives in unexpected and unfortunate accidents and disasters in the sea.
Sathya who doesn’t want the fate for her and Raju asks the latter to give up fishing for the contractor and find another job. While Raju just thought that she was being cautious and jokingly agrees, things start to crack between them and Raju and the men are imprisoned by the Pakistan Army for crossing the sea territory during a heavy storm. The men and their patriotism in the face of adversaries and the women’s strength and bravery in bringing them back makes up for the plot of ‘Thandel’.
The Positive Aspects
A step away from the usual emotional drama that seems plausible and believable as backed by the true incident that happened in 2019, ‘Thandel’ sheds light on the unaddressed part of the story of the 22 fishermen and satisfies it with grounded story and screenplay.
Although the titular character is played by actor Naga Chaithanya, it is Sai Pallavi who once again after ‘Amaran’ sports the role of a yearning and awaiting woman who is headstrong in fighting for their love and honouring her significant other’s ethics and ideologies. ‘Sathya’ in the beginning seemed like a lovestruck woman who then grows mature and takes over the ship’s wheel and steers the emotional aspects of the film that are spot on.
Naga Chaithanya in his usual element aces action and inspiring scenes, holding a stand and cleverly using his sense of dialogue delivery to garner applause, especially in the second half.
Chandoo Mandoti in writing a true incident, neatly layers it by giving the audience the time and understanding of the lead characters’ relationship, their love for their native, Raju’s resilience rooting from his father are the strong pillars that gave a proper structure to the film.
Yuvasamrat @chay_akkineni & @SaiPallavi92's Magical chemistry 💕
— Geetha Arts (@GeethaArts) February 7, 2025
Rockstar's @ThisIsDSP music 🔥@chandoomondeti's brilliant direction 🌊
BLOCKBUSTER RESPONSE from all the shows across the world for #Thandel 💥💥💥#Thandel NOW IN CINEMAS near you ⚓
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🎟️… pic.twitter.com/3XwEbjwp0T
Devi Sri Prasad nailed it with the music, especially for the emotional scenes and the action scenes where the simple violin breezes over the seashore air to the audience and the dramatic drums build hype for the actions, not elevating or overpowering but traveling along the scenes.
Visually the sea looks scary and consuming, pulling the audience into the sheer bravery it takes for the men who frequent it for livelihood. Shamdat Sainudeen’s camera captures the beauty and glory of the ocean along with the humble characters.
The Negative Aspects
The issues with showcasing patriotism especially while handling the long standing history of India and Pakistan comes with loads of sensitivity. The scenes where a minor child being held by the Pakistani prisoners and cruelly for a circumcision or the scenes of burning the evidence of enactment of patriotism in the Pakistan prison stand out like a sore thumb from the pace and narrative of the story. The sudden seriousness in showcasing such sensitive scenes came as a surprise and shock, seeming only adding the smoke for the possible fight sequence.
The Verdict
‘Thandel’ easily wins over the audience who crave a simple, plausible and inspiring love story that transcends oceans and territories while also feeding something for the action loving inspiration seeking crowd, handling the known premise of territorial imprisonment, almost bordering ‘Roja’ and banking heavily on Sai Pallavi’s heartbreaking ability to make the audience tear up with her, something that is repetitive in the recent times. A worthy emotional drama that has something for everyone and in the correct ratio rather than missing out.
