Thank God is the latest fantasy comedy film released on 25th October 2022. It is written and directed by Indra Kumar and based on a 2009 Danish film called What Goes Around by Anders Matthesen, which follows a bitter and stressed man who ends up in a car crash and gets another chance for life.
The cast of the film includes Ajay Devgn as Chitragupt “CG”, Sidharth Malhotra as Ayaan Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh as Ruhi Kapoor, Kiara Khanna as Pihu Kapoor (Ayaan & Ruhi’s daughter), Kiku Sharda as Ayaan’s colleague, Seema Pahwa as Ayaan’s mother, Urmilla Kothare as Ayaan’s sister, Sumit Gulati, Soundarya Sharma as Tanya and Nora Fatehi as a courtesan (special appearance in the song Manike).
-Thank God Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
The story revolves around an egoistic real estate broker with huge debts, who meets with an accident. As he gains consciousness, he realises that he is in heaven. Chitragupta appears in front of him and informs him that he will have to play a “Game Of Life”. If he manages to win, he will be sent back to earth and if he loses, he will be sent to hell.
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After every game, he will be awarded white and black balls. If he does a bad deed then he will get black balls and if he does a good deed, then he will get the white ones and whichever container fills up first, will be his fate. Black balls will lead him to hell, while white balls will give him another chance, to back in his body and live a good life.
The film starts in a very youtube comedy sketch manner, with an over-the-top narration and slapstick comedy, that comes from the bitter and frustrated personality of the lead Ayaan. Set against the backdrop of demonetisation, he is about to lose all the under-the-table commission and other assets because of it, and his only hope is to sell his own house, which he isn’t able to do.
In the afterlife, Ayaan is tested on all his bad qualities from getting angry at small things to feeling jealous towards others, he has to control his urges and show good behaviour. But bad habits are hard to change and Ayaan miserably fails at every challenge, being on the verge to be sent to hell.
The first thing that really irked me throughout the film was the lighting of the scenes. All the bantering scenes shot in the court of CG, are half-lit. The faces are lit brightly on just one half, while the other half of the face is dark and not even visible properly. If they wanted to show that both the good (light) and bad (darkness) reside in us, then I got the message.
But it’s not a dramatic photoshoot and watching half-lit faces for 2 hours, felt like just bad lighting. Coming to the story, I don’t know how people can ruin something already given to you in its fully baked form. The Danish film has its own positive and negative points and the remake, should either follow the same formula or improve it by removing the negatives, but not in this case.
In trying to localise the story, anything is happening, like a police officer is able to deduce the whole family history of a bank robber, by just looking at him. Another weird plot point is the parents blaming their kids for some accident that is out of their control. No matter how much the creators try to build an emotional connection with the audience, they just fail miserably.
Summing Up: Thank God
The film works on the hit formula of what lies beyond your mortal life and divine intervention, mixed with some comedy, yet couldn’t save the story from going down to hell. Along with the story, nothing much can be said about the awkward/forceful acting, which further disconnects the audience from immersing themselves.
Overall, save yourself from watching this 2-hour-long film and express gratitude to god, for leading you to this review and helping you in making a good decision. I am sure many white balls will be added to your karma container.
Thank God is currently showing in all the theatres.
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