Draft:Thandel 2024

Thandel is an upcoming 2024 Telugu action film directed by Chandoo Mondeti and produced by Bunny Vasu under the banner Geetha Arts. Presented by Allu Aravind, it features Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi in the lead roles. The music and the background score was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. This is his third collaboration with Chandoo, after Premam (2016) and Savyasachi (2018).

Synopsis
The film is based on real life events that happened to a fisherman in 2018 from Srikakulam, who gets caught after unintentionally drifting into Pakistani waters and gets tortured by the Pakistan authorities. The movie's glimpse also reveals love story set against the backdrop of the ocean.

Cast

 * Naga Chaitanya as Raju


 * Sai Pallavi as Satya

Production
Chandoo spent approx. 18 months working on the script. Before filming begun, the team travelled to a village named Machilesham in Srikakulam to meet the real-life characters. Thandel was launched on 9 December 2023 in Hyderabad. At its launch event, Telugu cinema stalwarts Venkatesh Daggubati (Naga Chaitanya’s uncle) and Nagarjuna (Naga Chaitanya’s father) attended as special guests. They offered their blessings to Naga Chaitanya, Sai Pallavi, and the entire team embarking on this thrilling new project.

The regular shoot of Thandel started in Udupi. Naga Chaitanya filmed key scenes in this schedule. For the film, Chaitanya is going to sport a rugged, massy look with a messy hairstyle to match his character and to have a Srikakulam accent. It took approx. nine months of preparation for his role. The shoot is presently underway and the team is canning some crucial sequences and action parts in this lengthy schedule. A sequence was filmed in the middle of the ocean. The shoot took place near Mangalore in the Arabian Sea. The movie glimpse was released on 6 January 2024. In March 2024, an authentic Pakistani jail set was constructed for shooting purposes in Hyderabad. That same month, a video surfaced of Pallavi and Chaitanya celebrating his assistant Konkipudi Venkatesh's birthday on the sets of Thandel. To celebrate Pallavi's birthday, the team released a short video showcasing her presence on the film set and introducing her character. On 10 June, the Thandel crew commenced their next schedule at Ramoji Film City, and once it completed, the crew went to film some crucial scenes in Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam.

Release
The film is currently slated for a theatrical release on 20 December 2024. Netflix has purchased the streaming rights for the film for a reported inr 400000000.

Soundtrack
The music and background score are composed by Devi Sri Prasad in his fourth collaboration with Naga Chaitanya, after 100% Love (2011), Dhada (2011) and Rarandoi Veduka Chudham (2017), and his maiden collaboration with Chandoo. Currently, as of 8 June 2024, the music director has finished