Actor Naga Chaitanya has treated fans to a sneak peek of his upcoming film 'Thandel' as a birthday surprise, ahead of his November 23rd celebration. Sharing his character's first look on social media platform X, he expressed his excitement about portraying the role, stating, "#NC23 is #Thandel – a character I'm genuinely looking forward to playing. Thrilled to collaborate with @chandoomondeti, @Sai_Pallavi92, @ThisIsDSP, and the entire team at @GeethaArts. Shooting commences soon."

Geetha Arts, the film's production company, also contributed to the birthday buzz by posting, "A leader is born to ride against the tide and time for his people. The Birthday Celebrations of Yuvasamrat begin early."

Despite a lukewarm response to his Bollywood debut in Aamir Khan's 'Laal Singh Chaddha,' Naga Chaitanya earned praise for his recent performance in the action thriller 'Custody,' released in May. This marked his Tamil cinema debut and featured a stellar cast including Arvind Swami, Priyamani, Sharat Kumar, Sampath Raj, Premgi Amaren, Vennela Kishore, and Premi Vishwanath.

In addition to 'Thandel,' Naga Chaitanya is set to captivate audiences with the Telugu web series 'Dhootha,' premiering on Prime Video on December 1. Directed by Vikram K Kumar and produced by Sharrath Marar under NorthStar Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the supernatural suspense-thriller follows Chaitanya's character, Sagar, an ambitious journalist caught in a web of mysterious and gruesome deaths haunting his family. The series also stars Prachi Desai, Parvathy Thiruvothu, and Priya Bhavani Shanker in pivotal roles.