Custody, Naga Chaitanya's Tamil debut ( also released in Telugu) directed by Venkat Prabhu, hit screens on May 12th.
A constable Shiva (Naga Chaitanya) is in love with Revathi ( Krithi Shetty), in his village. But her parents want her to wed a rich man ( Premgi). As the duo tackle this problem, Shiva lands up in another one. Due to a series of circumstances, he ends up protecting a hired killer Razoo ( Arvind Swami) and vows to take him to the CBI led, Court hearing in Bengaluru, which is crucial to get him punished. But this is no easy task as the state machinery is now on his heels, to stop him, putting the lives of his family in danger as well. What is the reason? Who is really behind this ? What is Shiva's secret driving motive behind this act?
The positives of the film include an interesting knot. The action scenes are gripping in several places like inside a dam and in a police station for instance. The face off action scenes between Arvind Swamy and Sarath Kumar are rivetting. The presence of Priyamani, Ramki, YG Mahendran and Jiiva add a spark, though they seem under utilised with minimum space. The train scenes and climax portions are also interesting as is an underwater sequence.
The period setting of the 90's is well created and all the supporting cast do a good job.
Naga Chaitanya plays his part with sincerity, be it action, romance or sentiment. He shines more in the flashback portions with Jiiva, where he seems more light-hearted and free. The dubbing synch especially in songs could have been paid attention to. His portions with Arvind Swamy make for interesting viewing.
Krithi Shetty has ample screen space and fits the 90's girl part well. But the their constant banter about their problems brings get repetitive after a while. However, in later scenes when they share their burden of the past, their screen bonding comes through well. The comfort level of the actors shows in their performances.
Premgi gets to add some humor but the viewer will feel let down if expecting a typical Venkat Prabhu kind of entertainer. The screenplay seems to slow down in few places like songs, lengthy family scenes and the like and a Telugu feel of the movie seems to creep in several places.
Custody has an interesting premise and some solid action, chase and suspense blocks, with good actors and neat performances, emotions and twists. But, a tighter narrative could have added a crisper feel in this action - drama family entertainer.
Rating 3.25/ 5
SRINIVASAA SILVER SCREENS
Pawan Kumar presents
CUSTODY
AVenkat Prabhu Hunt
Cast and Crew
Naga Chaitanya Akkineni- Shiva
Krithi shey
Revathi
Arvind Samy-Raju
Sarath Kumar-Natrajan
Priyamani- Dhatchayini
Ramki -Agent Philip
Premgi Amaren-Prem
Vennela Kishore -Prem
Sampath -George
Jeyaprakash -Varghese
Raviprakash- Rengappa
Premi vishwanath-Mangalam
Sai Srinivas
Ramamurthy
GopuRaju Ramana-
Dharmaraju
Kadambari Kiran -Pandu
Niharika Dhurga
Dhanvi-Ammu
Written -Direction
Venkat Prabhu
Producer
Srinivasaa chitturi
Pawan Kumar
Cinematography
SR Kathir
Editing
Venkat Raajen
Music
'Maestro' layaraaja
'Litle Maestro' Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production Designer
Rajeevan
Art Director
DY Satya Narayana
Stunt
Stun Siva(climax)
Mahesh Matthew
Choreography
Vjshekar
Jani
Bhanu
Satish
Lyrics
Gangai Amaren
Madhan Karky
Muthamil
Karunakaran
Shri Shivani VP
