Naga Chaitanya cooks traditional chepala pulusu for fishermen on the sets of Thandel. Watch

Chandoo Mondeti's Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi-starrer Thandel will be released in theatres on February 7. The film is based on a real-life incident.

Naga Chaitanya will play a fisherman from Srikakulam in his next film, the Chandoo Mondeti-directorial Thandel. A portion of the film’s shoot took him to the shores of Visakhapatnam, where he fulfilled a promise made to the fishermen the first time he visited them. (Also Read: Naga Chaitanya celebrates first Pongal with his 'Visakha queen' Sobhita Dhulipala since wedding. See pics)

Naga Chaitanya learnt a traditional fish stew recipe to cook for fishermen.

Naga Chaitanya cooks chepala pulusu

Chaitanya interacted with the regional fishermen to better understand the story and his character. A video released by the makers shows a fisherman stating that Chaitanya fulfilled a promise he made to them the first time he visited—that he would learn to cook chepala pulusu (fish stew) as well as they do.

The video shows Chaitanya marinating freshly caught fish in spices before cooking it in a traditional earthen pot over a fire. He tastes the stew before doling it out to the fishermen present there, telling them, “Please don’t mind if it isn’t good; this is my first time cooking it.” The actor also enjoys some rice with the pulusu, as the locals like to eat it.

Chaitanya is quite passionate about food. He even owns a cloud kitchen, Shoyu, in Hyderabad, which serves pan-Asian food.

About Thandel

Thandel is Chaitanya and Chandoo’s third film together after Premam and Savyasachi. It is Sai Pallavi and Chaitanya’s second film after Sekhar Kammula’s Love Story.

Produced by Bunny Vasu under Geetha Arts and presented by Allu Aravind, Thandel re-tells the real-life story of fishermen accidentally drifting into Pakistan waters. The film was initially slated for release during Sankranthi but it was postponed to February 7. It will also be released in Tamil and Hindi languages, apart from Telugu.

Chaitanya married Sobhita Dhulipala in December last year at Annapurna Studios after a low-key engagement in August. He was previously married to Samantha Ruth Prabhu from 2017-2021.