CUSTODY is an action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu in his Telugu directorial debut. Produced by Srinivasa Chitturi under Srinivasaa Silver Screen and Anji Industeries, the film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil.
A lukewarm opening 25 minutes, the film in its attempt to showcase the period that it is set in wastes tremendous time to set the pace. Generous in its inspirations and adaptations from quite a few English movies the first half is laborious with a drab romantic track and silly comedy. A lot of set pieces cook up the second half setting the pace for a dull climax and these set pieces defy logic and common sense like you would expect in most action movies. There are some comic relief moments spew far and few. The inconsistent pace is a downer and the villain’s characterization doesn t come out strong. The flashbacks and the reasoning sound manufactured and ironically it is the predictability of the film that salvages some watch time.
Naga Chaitanya just above floats in his role. Arvind Swamy keeps the audience engaged. Kirthi Shetty is OK. Sharath Kumar is stale. Ramki’s role is preposterous. Priyamani, Anandhi and Jiva are average.
SR Kathir’s cinematography is neat. Yuvan’s background score would be enjoyed by his fans. The art department has done an OK job. Dialogues are OK. Editing could have been better. Direction by Venkat Prabhu is standard.
CUSTODY is hardly arresting but is engaging in parts !!
CUSTODY – KASHTAM !!
B.U.Shreesha
