Thammudu Movie Review

2/5

2 Hr 12 mins   |   Action   |   04-07-2025

Cast - Nithiin, Sapthami Gowda, Laya, Varsha Bollamma, Saurabh Sachdeva, Swasika, Hari Teja, Srikanth Iyyengar..

Director - Sriram Venu

Producer - Raju - Shirish

Banner - Sri Venkateswara Creations

Music - B. Ajaneesh Loknath

After back-to-back failures at the box office, Nithiin is back with an action-adventure thriller Thammudu. Venu Sriram, after Vakeel Saab, took a long break due to various reasons, but now he is back with this movie, which got a promising buzz after the trailer and promotional interviews. Dil Raju, after a bittersweet Sankranthi, is betting heavily on this ‘experience’, which was made on a budget of approx. ₹70 Cr. Let’s see if Thammudu can be a fruitful outing for all of them or not.

Setup:

Jay (Nithiin) and Jhansi Kiranmayi/Sneha Latha (Laya) are long-estranged siblings. Due to a mistake by Jay, Jhansi ends up marrying someone other than her loved one and promises never to return home. All these years later, Jay still carries that guilt. An archer by profession, he now wants to meet her again and make amends, and sets out on a journey with his friend Chitra (Varsha Bollamma) to find her.

Jhansi, on the other hand, is a government officer appointed to investigate a factory blast that took the lives of many due to a gas leak. The antagonist behind this blast, Azrawal (Saurabh Sachdeva), never steps out of his abode due to a condition – he has a damaged auditory nerve and can’t tolerate sound above 20 dB. He influences all the government officials through money and violence to get the matter settled. Jhansi is the last piece of the puzzle he needs to silence.

Jhansi, along with her family, visits Ambalagodugu, a remote tribal village on the Andhra–Chhattisgarh border for a once-in-12-years Jathara. This village has no government presence – basically, it’s a lawless land. Will Jhansi’s family make it out of Ambalagodugu? How will Jay and Chitra help them? Will Azrawal succeed in stopping Jhansi frosubmitting the report? All of this forms the rest of the story.

Technical Aspects:

Three cinematographers worked on this film, with KV Guhan handling the major portion. It was a challenge as most of the film happens in forests and outdoors. A few sequences stood out, but some were poorly done, especially as the CG didn’t come through well. Speaking of CG, it’s evident that not much budget was allocated there. Music by Ajaneesh Loknath stands out. Though there aren’t many songs, “Bhuu Ante” was good, and special mention goes to his background score. Editing by Prawin Pudi is poor. Story by Venu Sriram feels outdated, and the screenplay didn’t engage the audience. Even the direction feels pretty old school, with the making and shot selection coming off as ordinary.

Performances:

Nithiin, as a performer, had very limited scope. He was mostly confined to action sequences and a few melodramatic scenes. Laya, in her comeback, definitely needed a better character. Though the movie revolves around her, she hardly had any impact. Varsha Bollamma was decent enough as Nithiin’s friend and had an action sequence. Sapthami Gowda as Ratna, the SOS girl in the village, tested patience as her dubbing didn’t fit. Swasika as Gutti was good, but again, nothing really stood out. Saurabh Sachdeva, Hari Teja, and Srikant Iyengar were adequate in their roles. But the rest of the casting, especially the family members, was weak. Most of them looked like short film actors.

Positives:

Production values
Background score

Negatives:

Story-Screenplay
Old-school treatment
CG
Boring survival theme

Analysis:

The makers of Thammudu released the trailer directly without any songs or teasers, aiming to get people adapted to the world they created. Even producer Dil Raju and director Venu Sriram stressed in multiple promotional interviews and events about the word ‘experience’ on the big screen. They wanted people to get immersed in that forest world – but ironically, in the film, it’s just a small voice-over when Nithiin and Varsha Bollamma get to know about the place ‘Ambalagodugu’.

Another point often stressed was the strong emotional core of the film, but there are hardly any scenes that establish that emotion properly. A few dialogues here and there, but no lasting impact. One might wonder had they gone directly into the adventurous survival theme without deviating into melodrama elements and avoided genre-mixing, they might have had a better outcome. Venu Sriram included a lot of convenient elements in the movie. He seems like a practical filmmaker going by his interviews, but that practicality is missing in the film.

Overall, Thammudu will be a bitter experience for everyone involved, and as far as Nithiin is concerned, his lookout for a proper commercial hit continues.

Bottomline: Vaddu Thammudu!

Rating: 2/5

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