Thank God is dull, preachy and is out of sync with contemporary times
“What goes around, comes around” says Chitragupta or CG (Ajay Devgn) in his latest avatar at the pompous court of Yamraj. This adage holds true for Indra Kumar’s new movie Thank God. To be fair to the film maker, this movie is far better than his exaggerated films like Ishq, Raja etc. Yet this game show-cum film does not muster even the contrived drama seen in the music shows on television.
The story line is simple yet preachy, and is completely out of sync with contemporary times. It takes the high moral road with the anchor
CG himself cheating and assisting the protagonist on the hot-seat.
Ayaan Kapoor (Siddharth Malhotra), a big businessman, suddenly finds the decline of his business and wealth. His grand villa is up for sale and the prospective purchasers are clowns rather than successful businessmen. Ayaan’s wife Ruhi (Rakul Preet Singh) is a police officer, who is more often seen romancing with Ayaan or catering to the demands of the child at home.
A ghastly road accident, however, brings Ayaan to the surgical table. As the surgeons try hard to save him, he finds himself playing the virtue-vs-vice game. He is introduced to the game by Yamadoot or YD (Mahesh Balraj). Thereafter, CG takes over and announces that white-uniformed guests will hurl white ball or black ball and the column will decide their fate.
From here, the game turns preachy and CG plays God judge without compunctions. It is here that the film completely looses the plot. How would anyone preach honesty to a businessman, or give sermons against lust after throwing an item girl at him? Neither the temptation tests nor the return to moral stances carry an iota of credibility.
Sometimes it is only justifiable to doubt whether the tear jerking templates of loss and rags to riches from the music shows have not been super imposed as a script to the film.
One right choice the film maker has made was Ajay Devgn. Thankfully, the script did not go to Big B. The sets of this show are no less loud. Yes, Ajay Devgn has his costumes in check! He stares through the script and the signature half-smile-half frown works for him. One feels sorry for Siddharth Malhotra — a limited actor. He is tested with an insipid script that immobilises him, challenges him and offers little respite. The likes of Rakul Preet Singh have very little to do. The actor steals a moment or two is Seema Pahwa.
The game in white ball and black ball tempts you to wonder if it is not the singular. However one will stop short of that and leave the white and black ball game to the dubious idea of the film. Give it a miss.
