Thank God Review: Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra’s performance impresses but the film doesn’t MGG

Plot

While ‘Yamlok’ is known as a point of no return, director Indra Kumar’s Thank God featuring Ajay Devgn, Sidharth Malhotra and Rakul Preet Singh gives an interesting spin to that belief. This comedy-drama revolves around Ayaan Kapoor (played by Sidharth Malhotra), a self-centred human, a greedy business person and an even worst family man. He meets with a lethal accident and reaches the court of a modernised version of Chitragupt aka CG (played by Ajay Devgn), where he is given a chance to explain his sins, and to even redeem himself in a game of life. Now, whether he succeeds at that or not is for you to see in the film. 

What’s Hot?

Emotional scenes. Yes, you read that right. In a comedy movie, while one would expect the satire to be its strongest element, for me what works better are the emotive sequences, especially the ones towards the end of the film. Which is also why the second half comes across far stronger than the first portion of Thank God. The initial part lacks high points, but the twist in the end of the film truly surprises and shocks the viewer. Again, dialogues like ‘Bhagwan mein maante ho, par bhagwan ki ek nahin maante’, in stirring sequences leave an impact. 

Camera work by Director Of Photography (DOP) Aseem Bajaj helps lift a lot of dull sequences, especially the ones that were inherently conceptualised to be funny. Editing by Dharmendra Sharma is sharp, while music – especially the remakes “Manike” and “Dil De Diya Hai” – works for Thank God. Jubin Nautiyal’s “Haaniya Ve” also manages to stand out. Kudos to composers Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli, Anand Raaj Anand and Chamath Sangeeth. 

What’s Not?

What doesn’t work for Thank God is its first half, which fails to keep you engrossed. Director Indra Kumar and writers Aakash Kaushik and Madhur Sharma could have spent some more time sharpening this portion of the movie. While the overall idea of Thank God is fascinating, it is the execution where the film takes the major beating. The jokes are old-fashioned, while most one liners often fall flat. 

Usually in a weak narrative, the background music gets a chance to be the star and help lift dry sequences. However, Amar Mohile’s score fails to do so. Production design by Bhavik M Dalwadi doesn’t do much for the film, while VFX by Ny Vfxwaala could have been much better. Action choreography by RP Yadav is average. 

Performances

Ajay Devgn lives up to his part of CG and justifies the role. With some more able dialogues the character could have done wonders. Sidharth Malhotra shows potential in comedy, and with the right script and lines can do a lot more in the genre. Nonetheless, he plays his part well in Thank God. Rakul Preet Singh plays Sidharth’s wife and cop – Ruhi. She does her best to portray a caricaturish role that needed sincere efforts from the writers. A bank scene involving her character is very poorly executed. Seema Pahwa is as usual wonderful in her limited screen time, while Kiku Sharda in just one scene proves his mettle as an actor, and especially his hold over comedy. 

Final Verdict

Overall, Thank God had potential with a unique idea and sincere performances at its helm, but it is the weak writing that makes it a lacklustre affair.