THANK GOD - Another wrongly promoted project based on a thoughtful theme that has far better films made in the past. (Review By Bobby Sing)

More known for his loud comedies, veteran director Indra Kumar comes up with a fantasy post films like Great Grand Masti and Total Dhamaal. This time, he surprisingly focuses on life after death and interactions with the godly management in heaven, judging and deciding the fate of a dead person. The film aptly titled THANK GOD is another example of a wrongly promoted project as it is not any hilarious comedy but a light-hearted, emotional drama differently projected in the promos. 

Coming straight to the point with some mildly comic sequences, the film gives you the feel of an average product right away and proves to be the same in its two hours of (lengthy) duration. While the modern avatar of Yamraj and Chitragupta does not work, the humour falls flat too as Kumar sincerely tries to follow a distinctive path, disappointing the viewers looking for the promised content. His supposedly funny spoof on Singham and Kaun Banega Crorepati also turns out to be a dud, backed by routine writing. 

But then, even in this kind of project talking about life after death and a person’s unguarded greed conning fellow humans, the director shows the courage and vision of inserting a sexy item number featuring Nora Fatehi in a cameo, doing what she is best known for. The song is a remake of a recent viral track sung by Yohani from Sri Lanka. The girl has also sung the Hindi version that does not add anything significant to the hugely successful song other than the inviting visuals.

So, if you are assuming THANK GOD to be an Indra Kumar-Ajay Devgun style of comedy, then there is a big disappointment waiting for you. However, with no expectation of the typical stuff, the film still becomes watchable but that too on an OTT platform, making no additional expenditure or effort, as a time-pass fair.

Its story progression becomes entirely predictable post the initial moments, and it is the concluding part that turns out to be the major saving grace of the film, throwing some interesting twists and turns. 

An official adaptation of the Danish film What Goes Around with the original title Sorte Kugler (2009), THANK GOD is surely going to find more takers post its online release as a clean family entertainer with a social message. It has an earnest key performance by Ajay Devgn and Rakul Preet Singh, but along with an overdone act of Siddharth enacting the unengaging script.

As a light film talking about death and the law of Karma, it also seems to be stuck in the last century when well-made films based on such themes were widely appreciated by the masses. Giving them the due credit, entertainers like Jhuk Gaya Aasman (1968), Lok Parlok (1979), and Taqdeerwala (1995) still give us a great time even in the second decade of the new millennium. As a fact, such adaptations started long back in Hindi cinema, from the 50s onwards, and even then, the inspiration remained the thoughtful fantasies made in the west. 

But keeping that interesting subject for another write-up, it would be better to wait for the OTT release of THANK GOD, as you are sure going to say the two words while watching it in the comfort zone of your home, skipping the theatres. Strangely, the multiplexes have yet again raised the ticket prices for the new festival releases. And that might be the reason for much less number of people at the ticket window. 

Rating : 2 + 0.5 / 5 (with the additional 0.5 for its social message that forces us to reconsider and look at the speed at which life is slipping away from our hands, racing towards the end.)