Custody Movie Review: Naga Chaitanya’s Action Thriller Underwhelms Despite Some Strong Performances

Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Kriti Shetty, Priyamani, Arvind Swamy, Sarathkumar, Sampath Raj, Vennela Kishore

Director: Venkat Prabhu

Music: Ilayaraja, Yuvan Shankar Raja

Cinematography: S.R Kathir, Sumer Verma

Producer: Srinivasa Chitturi

Introduction:

The plot of “Custody” revolves around Shiva (Naga Chaitanya), a sincere police constable, who dreams of a happy life with his lover, Revathi (Kriti Shetty). One day, while on duty at Sakhineti Palli Police Station, Shiva comes to know that Rajanna (Arvind Swamy) has been arrested and that someone is trying to kill Rajanna. Meanwhile, he also discovers that Revathi is going to get married to another person. Shiva takes Rajanna and Revathi along with him to the court that same night, determined to deliver justice. But, the questions remain – why was Rajanna arrested? Who wants him dead? Will Shiva be able to win Revathi’s love amidst all this chaos? These are the key elements of the original storyline of the movie.

Story and Performances:

The movie starts with an accident and takes about 15 minutes to introduce the characters. The pace of narration before the pre-interval is slow, but it picks up after the interval. The action episode at the interval is a highlight of the movie. However, the second half of the movie suffers from extended and stretched scenes that bore the audience. The love track with Kriti Shetty is also underwhelming. Nevertheless, the action episodes and twists in the story keep the audience engaged.

Naga Chaitanya’s acting as Shiva is commendable, and he excels in the action scenes. Kriti Shetty shares the screen equally with Naga Chaitanya and delivers a decent performance. Priyamani and Arvind Swamy are noteworthy in their respective roles, and Sarath Kumar, Vennela Kishore, and the rest of the cast do justice to their roles.

Technical Aspects:

Director Venkat Prabhu’s trademark narration is evident in the movie, but the story could have been written more grippingly. The music by Ilayaraja and Yuvan Shankar Raja raises expectations, but the songs are not impressive. The background score, however, is a big asset to the movie and elevates some scenes. The cinematography and editing are good.

Conclusion:

Custody had a lot of expectations riding on it, given the cast and crew. While the movie has some strong performances and action scenes, the story falls short of expectations. The slow start, stretched scenes, and underwhelming love track make the movie less engaging. Overall, Custody is an average action thriller that fails to live up to the hype.

Rating: 2.5/5