Naga Chaitanya and Krithi Shetty starrer rustic drama Custody under the direction of Kollywood director Venkat Prabhu has been carrying good expectations among the audience. Co-starring Arvind Swamy in the antagonist role, the film has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: Shiva (Naga Chaitanya) is a sincere constable who stops Chief Minister (Priyamani) and gets popular. Shiva (Naga Chaitanya) has a backstory that has a connection with Raju (Arvind Swamy). Eventually, this leads to the rescue of the Raju (Arvind Swamy). Why Shiva protects Raju?
What is the backstory behind rescuing Raju? What is the connection between Shiva and the Raju? How do consequences lead Shiva to lock horns with Sampath Raj’s character? How Shiva’s love story with Revathi (Krithi Shetty) gets affected due to the unwanted hustle, forms the crucial crux.
Performances: Naga Chaitanya perfectly fitted in the role of a sincere constable. His natural acting in the given role elevates the proceedings. The cat-and-mouse game between the hero and the antagonist creates curiosity among the audience.
Apart from Naga Chaitanya, the film has Arvind Swamy who plays a key role. He is outstanding in his role as a local goon and elevates the proceedings with his aura and screen presence. He is literally lit in the given role and brings depth to the proceedings.
Other artists such as Priyamani are believable in their dignified roles. Sampath Raj is perfect with his usual acting in the given key character.
Sharath Kumar is fine in his role and he has got amazing screen presence. Krithi Shetty is cute on-screen and her chemistry with Chay is adorable. She has got a purposeful role in the film and so is the case with her acting and characterization.
Other artists such as Premgi Amaren, and Vennela Kishore are okay in their respective roles.
Technicalities: The photography work by S. R. Kathir registers as the rustic frames in the movie are showcased nicely. The color texture is amazing and so is the case with the frames he used especially while canning night mood shots.
The music composed by father-son duo Ilaiyaraaja and Yuvan Shankar Raja is a major plus for the film. The songs composed by the duo are passable on the screen and is background score is appealing throughout with a nice sound. Editing work is Sharpe.
The Telugu version of dialogues is apt to the proceedings. Special mention to the writers’ department as their work is clearly visible on screen.
The product design work is captivating so is the case with the production values of the Srinivasa Silver screen banner. Last, but not least, the outstanding teamwork by the unit members is a major asset for the movie.
Analysis: The film starts off on a pretty slow and flat note and slowly gets interesting towards the pre-interval. The entire proceedings during this time take their own sweet time to establish the characters as many things won’t be going through in the meantime.
An interesting plot point with well-designed scenes that work well at the crucial portions only elevates the mood of the film. Though the film looks dragged at times, on the whole, all the dots will be connected nicely with a gripping screenplay written by Venkat Prabhu and his team. The action scenes and narrated in an interesting way.
To summarize, Custody is a gripping rustic drama that is largely screenplay based with an arresting scene order.
Verdict: Gripping to the core!
Rating: 3/5
