Naga Chaitanya-Sai Pallavi's Thandel Officially Launched

We had previoulsy reported that actor Naga Chaitanya's next with filmmaker Chandoo Mondeti has been titled Thandel. The film was officially launched with a pooja ceremony on Saturday in Annapurna Studios, with Nagarjuna and Venkatesh gracing the event, with the former switching on the camera for the muhurtham shot, while the latter sounded the clapboard.

Produced by Bunny Vasu and presented by Allu Aravind through Geetha Arts, the film stars Sai Pallavi as the female lead, marking her second collaboration with Chaitanya after the 2021 hit, Love Story. The film is billed as an expensive actioner set in a coastal backdrop.

Speaking at the event, director Chandoo, who collaborates with Chaitanya for the third time after Premam (2016) and Savyasachi (2018), said, "It’s a one-and-a-half year of hard work. Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi are ready to give their best. They are motivating me. I promise my team to give my best.”

Naga Chaitanya added, “We have been travelling with the script for one and a half years. I enjoyed every step of the pre-production process. The work happened collaboratively, starting from interacting with the locals in Srikakulam. We worked on Srikakulam slang. I haven’t had this much of an elaborate planning for any of my previous movies. I enjoyed this process.”

The film has music by National-award-winner Devi Sri Prasad while Shamdat of Virupaksha fame lenses the frames. Navin Nooli and Srinagendra Tangala spearhead the editing and art departments, respectively.