Custody Review

Naga Chaitanya has pinned a lot of hopes on the film Custody in which he plays a cop for the first time in his career. The film is directed by Venkat Prabhu and has Krithi Shetty as the heroine. Let's review the film here.

Story

Shiva(Naga Chaitanya) is a sincere constable who accidentally arrests a dreaded criminal named Raju(Arvind Swamy). He comes to know about the importance of the case from a CBI officer and decides to produce Raju in a court of law. But he has to face Raju's enemies and also has to handle his broken relationship with his girlfriend Revathi(Krithi Shetty) at the same time. How will a normal police constable goes against the odds and do this is the story of Custody.

Analysis

Custody is Naga Chaitanya's first film where he plays a cop. His role is that of an underdog constable and he plays it quite well. Naga Chaitanya's sincere performance is the one which drives the narrative. Venkat Prabhu is known to make thrillers but sadly, his work is not as impressive as he could not justify the emotions properly in Custody. The first half is dull and emphasizes more on the love affair of the lead pair.

In all his interviews, Venkat Prabhu said that the film is about a cop trying hard to take a criminal to court. So, automatically, there is no proper story. Priyamani plays the CM and her role looks weak and is not highlighted properly. There are so many weak links in the film and are not justified properly. The action episodes needed to click big time but that does not happen as the action in the second half is weak. What drives the narrative is the sincere performance of Naga Chaitanya who is superb.

One more highlight of the film is Aravind Swamy who plays the main villain. His role has a fun touch and he brings a smile to our faces whenever he is on screen. In a way, he is also not utilized properly. Krithi Shetty gets a good role but is not showcased well and ends up just as a supporting character. Sampath was okay but Vennela Kishore was irritating in his role.

The visuals of Custody are good but the look and production design makes the film look more Tamil than Telugu. Ilayaraja and Yuvan Shankar Raj's music is disappointing. None of the songs click and they are a big boredom. As the plot is thin, there is no excitement that is created. Venkat Prabhu has failed to narrate the action drama in an engaging manner.

Verdict

Custody is about a sincere cop who goes against all odds to reach his goal. While Naga Chaitanya is superb in his role as a cop, the execution is below par. The real thrill that is needed in an action drama is missing and the action does not click. All those who like crime thrillers can give this film a shot but lower your expectations big time.