Telugu cinema is not particularly famous for lowkey performances. Naga Chaitanya in Thank You refuses to go over the top even when the temptation to do so is considerable.
Consider this, Abhiram has made it big in the US. But he has lost his humanity. For him, there is no place in the heart for love commitment or loyalty. Interestingly Naga Chaitanya played a full-fledged family man in the same director Vikram Kumar’s Manam in 2014. This time Chaitanya is on his own as he journeys back in time to his roots in Andhra Pradesh.
Designed as a showcase for Naga Chaitanya, Thank You has the young actor delivering some thoughtful moments in a script that constantly underplays the drama in the content. Chaitanya has three leading ladies to deal with. My favourite among the three ladies is Malavika Nair who is part of Naga Chaitanya’s first flashback to his first love.
Nair is a natural. She responds naturally to the stimuli of first love. But the segment ends abruptly. The other flashback in Vizag traces Abhiram’s clashes with a fellow student played with a brash likeability by Sai Sushant Reddy. This section of the storytelling needed better editing. It tends to meander off course, and Avika Gore’s presence in this section adds nothing to the drama.
What works well is the theme of kinship with the past and how it shapes one’s present and future. Naga Chaitanya conveys a lot of his character’s failures to show that success is relative. You can’t detach yourself from your past in pursuit of your future.
Thank You may not be the film that Naga Chaitanya would be best remembered by. But it’s certainly less unmemorable than Ranbir Kapoor’s release this week Shamshera.
Rating: *** (3/5)
Image Source: IMDb