Thank God (2022): The Judgement Of Fate

Bollywood has rolled out a fantasy-comedy drama starring Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra. Titled “Thank God”, it is the official Hindi remake of the 2009 Danish comedy film “Sorte Kulgar” translated as “What Goes Around”. Thank God has been written by Aakash Kaushik and Madhur Sharma, produced by Bhushan Kumar, and directed by Indra Kumar. Released worldwide on October 25, 2022, the film is on its way to making itself a theatrical hit.

Presenting Sidharth Malhotra With Nora Fatehi In The Track “Manike Mage Hithe”

Thank God (2022) Synopsis:

Ayaan Kapoor (Sidharth Malhotra) is growing his own real estate business. He has a hard time supporting his wife Ruhi (Rakul Preet Singh) and daughter Pihu (Kiara Khanna). What’s worse, he is in a debt of 16 Crore INR! The reason for his suffering was his involvement in illegal black money. After the demonetization by the government took place in India, he lost all his wealth. Now his only option was to sell his house. However, he wasn’t able to find a buyer. As he had put up his own house for sale, he started living with his family at his wife’s house.

Starring Ajay Devgn And Sidharth Malhotra

The debt-laden Ayaan was a selfish man as well. He didn’t care for his family. One day, he met with a terrible accident. As he lay on his deathbed, he came face-to-face with Lord Chitragupt (Ajay Devgn); the judge of the fate of human souls. Lord Chitragupt asked him to play the “Game of Life” which will decide his fate. If he wins, he will be sent back to Earth to resume his life with his family. If he loses, he will burn in hell! Watch the full story to get to know Ayaan’s fate as Lord Chitragupt takes him on a “joy ride” which will change his destiny forever.

Thank God (2022) Official Trailer:

Thank God (2022) Diwali Season Trailer:

The Good:

A Story With A Message

Thank God is a unique fantasy film that has been designed as a comedy-drama. However, this is not a “leave-your-brains-at-home” kind of comedy. The story of this film comes with a message for your enlightenment. Thank God teaches us the importance of one’s family life. The film also teaches us how to move on when facing tribulations. It even tells us to remain humane to all our fellow beings.

Another aspect of the story is that it is bundled with emotions. Thank God is not a pure comedy drama. In fact, the story rapidly transitions from comedy to grief and later on, introspection. Chitragupt made Ayaan realize what things he has done right and wrong in his life.

Apart from the enlightening messages and the emotion-laden moments, the story has some interesting instances to engage the audience. The film starts with a thrilling generic shot which is common in many fantasies or adventure films nowadays. The filmmakers decided to start by zooming into India and into Ayaan’s life from the zoomed-out view of the Earth. Some interesting moments in the film include a scene resembling Chandler Bing’s iconic Friends scene! Another scene involves the narration of the “black dot on the whiteboard” analogy to motivate a nervous surgeon who is just about to perform an operation on Ayaan. The film also has some steamy moments as Ayaan is given a task by Chitragupt to control his lust, where a courtesan named Reema (Nora Fatehi in a special appearance) tries to seduce him.

Appreciable Performances

Ajay Devgn with his “star power” appeared convincing in the role of Lord Chitragupt. Though the Chitragupt showcased in Thank God doesn’t look anything like what Hindu mythology describes him to be. In this film, Chitragupt takes the form of the “average Joe”. Still, Devgn’s performance did justice to his character of Chitragupt. However, his character of Chitragupt was unidimensional, and this made Devgn’s acting unidimensional sans any variation.

In spite of the fact that Sidharth Malhotra lacks expressions during dialogue delivery, his good looks and charm are very much capable of enticing female audiences. In fact, the majority of women may visit the theaters to watch this movie just for seeing him. If you compare Sidharth with Varun Dhawan, who happened to be his co-star in his debut film “Student Of The Year” and who is going to be the lead in the upcoming horror-comedy “Bhediya” (The Werewolf), his sense of comedy is nothing compared to that of Dhawan’s. I am comparing these two actors as this film is a “so-called” comedy drama.

Rakul Preet Singh as Ayaan’s wife Ruhi and child actor Kiara Khanna as his daughter Pihu lent decent support throughout. Whatever films Devgn does nowadays, Rakul Preet Singh is sure to be there! In “De De Pyaar De” she played his girlfriend, in “Runway 34” she played his co-pilot, and now in “Thank God” she plays his co-star Sidharth Malhotra’s wife. Kanwaljeet Singh as Ayaan’s father, Seema Pahwa as his mother, and Urmilla Kothare as his sister appeared convincing in their respective roles.

Awesome Visuals Coupled With Crisp Editing

I must say that the cinematography by Aseem Bajaj in Thank God is awesome. The sharp camerawork has been coupled with amazing visuals and special effects to depict God’s presence. The sets and costumes have been designed keeping in mind the modern-day scenario as well as the “Godly atmosphere”.

Also, Dharmendra Sharma has done justice to the film with his crisp and sharp editing. I mean, this is perhaps one of the shortest films made by Bollywood which runs for 2 hours only.

The Bad:

The Screenplay Deserved Better Direction

The plot of Thank God is engaging. However, I do feel that the screenplay written by Aakash Kaushik and Madhur Sharma should have been directed by Indra Kumar keeping certain points in mind. To be precise, Thank God is supposed to be a comedy film. By looking at its pre-release promotions, the audiences had already made up their minds that they will be going to the theaters to watch a fantasy-comedy drama.

However, as the drama progresses, the comedy part starts to dwindle and we are left with grief, remorse, and realization. So, the build-up of comedy is severely lacking in this film which had been promoted as a comedy-drama. This is very much disappointing if you consider the audience’s perspective.

Also, the “game show” between Chitragupt and Ayaan becomes repetitive as the film progresses. Each and every time Ayaan for sure is assigned a different task by Chitragupt. But what I exactly mean to say is that the tasks in the game show progress in a similar pattern. This may appear monotonous to certain audiences and thus, they may find this movie boring.

If there had been an abundance of comedy in this drama, then the similar pattern of the tasks in the game show might not have invited monotony. But as I said earlier, the comedy build-up is lacking. This is what the filmmakers should have taken care of while devising a comedy-supported game show in a fantasy drama.

The screenplay in Thank God is loaded with provoking dialogues. Even if several of the dialogues have been narrated by the “master of dialogue delivery” Ajay Devgn, they failed to create an impact. In fact, this is not the narrator’s fault. The dialogue in the movie has been written unimpressively, and that’s the reason their impact can’t be felt.

A Controversy That Occurred Much Before The Film’s Release!

You will be astonished by the news that this light-hearted fantasy-comedy got mired in a controversy even before its release! An Indian medical education minister demanded a ban on Thank God in his state. He accused the filmmakers of inappropriately portraying the Hindu God Chitragupt in the film. So what do you think the end result of this controversy came out to be? The character of Chitragupt in Thank God was renamed as “CG” before its release! “CG” stands for Chitragupt only, and it didn’t impact the film’s reputation by any chance. In fact, the filmmakers cleverly decided to apply this formula of renaming Chitragupt by his initials “CG” to avoid further controversies.

The Verdict:

The filming of Thank God took one year, from January 2021 to January 2022. Two songs in the film aroused my interest. One is Bollywood’s remade version of the Sri Lankan track “Manike Mage Hithe” which features Sidharth Malhotra and Nora Fatehi. Sidharth’s charm and Nora’s graceful dance rocked the track. Another enchanting track “Dil De Diya” in the film has been actually taken from Bollywood’s 2004 romantic comedy-drama “Masti”.

Overall, Thank God is an entertaining drama that has been spiritually shared in a light-comedy way. You will enjoy watching it along with your family. This movie may make you cry at times. So grab hold of your handkerchiefs to experience Ayaan’s spiritual journey on his deathbed with Lord Chitragupt!