Thank God: A fantasy ride that you won’t mind hopping on

Indra Kumar’s Thank God is an attempt at creating a make believe world that wants to entertain, as well as give a message. This is a difficult tightrope and the dramatic bits don’t completely land but still there is no denying that Thank God is a film that leaves you in a good mood. For those who are not aware Thank God is based on the Danish social comedy Sorte Kugler.

Ayaan Kapoor (Siddarth Malhotra) is a bankrupt real estate agent married to a cop played by Rakul Preet Singh. Ayaan is someone who has many flaws. He has anger management issues, low self-esteem, and doesn’t get along well with either his wife or the daughter. Additionally he is very jealous and adores Nora Fatehi as a fantasy figure. One day, he meets with an accident. Instead of waking up in a hospital room he wakes up to afterlife. Indra Kumar’s version of afterlife consists of a giant stadium full of people who would be judging him in a game show called The Game of life. The host is C.G shortcut for Chitragupt (A flamboyant Ajay Devgan). If Ayaan gets enough white balls he would be sent back to be resurrected. However, abundance of black balls would mean hell.

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What follows is a roller coaster journey where Ayaan has no other option other than to win this Game of life. There are many life lessons along the way presented in the format of an escapist fantasy.

The best parts of Thank God are easily the interactions between Ajay Devgan and Siddarth Malhotra. The one liners of Ajay will leave you in splits. The first half has lot of situational humor. Thankfully Indra Kumar stays away from making it a vulgar comedy. One of my favorite bits in the first half is when Siddarth Malhotra tries to bring his inner Singham but ends up failing miserably. There is also a KBC reference when Ajay Devgan talks about how a superstar had come here once, and took the idea of his game and adapted it as KBC.

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Another good thing about Thank God is how the director portrays the transformative journey of Ayaan. The way CG makes Ayaan relive episodes from his own life make the drama more interesting.

The gradual progression in his character and how he learns to appreciate the good happenings in his life and letting go off the bad has been well portrayed.

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Thank God heavily relies on the shoulders of Ajay Devgan and Siddarth Malhotra and both don’t disappoint. Siddarth Malhotra is successful in capturing the different shades of Ayaan. This is the first time that Siddarth has tried his hand at a situational comedy and the actor does a pretty good job. The scenes in the first half where he pretends to be a broker in order to sell his bungalow are hilarious to say the least.

Ajay Devgan makes for the perfect modern Chitragupt. The actor is a delight to watch as the all knowing game host who has nothing but the best interests of the contestants at heart. You can clearly see that Ajay is having a ball.

Rakul Preet Singh is good as a devoted wife but suffers majorly due to a one note characterization. Like numerous female characters in this year Rakul ends up being a prop later on. More scenes between Siddarth and Rakul would have enhanced the romantic portions. The talented Seema Pahwa is also relegated to the backseat.

The music is more situational but thankfully the songs do not come across as speed breakers. The song Manike filmed on Siddarth and Nora Fatehi is easily the best song in the album.

Final word: Watch Thank God for some lighthearted moments and if you are in the mood for some life lessons.

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