Will it Bring the Mass Appeal to Chaitu?

Naga Chaitanya, who is turning 38 today, is the third generation actor from the illustrious Akkineni family of Tollywood. Following the footsteps of his grand father and legendary actor ANR and taking up the mantle from his father Nagarjuna to continue the legacy forward, Naga Chaitanya has always tried to explore different genres ranging from youthful stories to romantic dramas to family entertainers to full-length mass films irrespective of the box office reception.

While he tasted adequate success in different genres, an outright hit in mass genre has been evading him from the beginning of his career. With impressive selection of scripts, he slowly attained the image of a ‘Class Hero’ as hits like Yem Maya Chesave, Manam, 100% Love, Majili, Love Story appealed very well to family audience. Unfortunately, his mass films fell short of expectations and failed to reach the target audience, denying him the much need mass image.

Despite trying hard to score a career-defining commercial hit in the mass genre which will help him garner bigger image in the mass pockets of box office territories, Chaitanya couldn’t achieve the desired success so far. Though he managed to bag a decent hit with the multi-starrer Bangarraju, a solo success in the mass genre is the one which has been missing from his filmography.

His upcoming film Thandel is touted to be an out-and-out mass entertainer with a rural backdrop. He is betting big on this Chandoo Mondeti directional with the hope that the long quest for a mass hit will end with it. The posters and the first teaser dropped enough hints that Thandel will see Naga Chaitanya in his messiest avatar with a lot of intensity in the character and has scope to unleash the mass angle in his acting repertoire.

Besides going for a stunning makeover, Chaitu is said to have performed risky stunts in some of the action episodes in Thandel. These scenes are said be the biggest highlight for the film. His mannerisms and body language will be a complete departure from what he essayed so far in his career.

The question among trade circles and moviegoers is whether Thandel manages to bring the much needed mass image to Naga Chaitanya and give a big boost to his career ? We need to wait till February 7th to find out.