Toxic movie review: Yash's film is a soulless nightmare, a sensory overload that tests your patience

Toxic movie review: Geetu Mohandas and Yash's action drama was pitched as a ‘fairy-tale for adults’ and yet the film is anything but that.

Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups

Cast: Yash, Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth

Director: Geetu Mohandas

Rating: ★

Toxic movie review: Yash plays dual roles in Geetu Mohandas' film.

There’s something about Geetu Mohandas and Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups that has rubbed people the wrong way since the first promo was released. Initially, it felt like the uproar was over the depiction of sex or the grand dose of misogyny that came with a side of gratuitous violence. In hindsight, it feels like maybe our gut instinct was telling us everything about the film was surface-level. At least, mine was.

The story of Toxic

Raya (Yash) and his sister Ganga (Nayanthara) want to control all illegal businesses in Goa, which is still under Portuguese rule, even as the rest of the country has achieved independence. Bethrothed to be married to kingpin Salvador’s (Darrell D'Silva) daughter Rebecca (Tara Sutaria), Raya is on the verge of making all his sister’s dreams come true. Then Nadia (Kiara Advani) arrives, and the usually dispassionate gangster begins to feel something resembling love. But even before Raya and Nadia can get lost in their bubble, fate has something else in store. And Raya might have to answer for all his deeds.

Movie Review

Toxic

1/5

Action

Raya (Yash) and his sister Ganga (Nayanthara) want to control Goa. But falling in love comes in the way of their plans

Director

Geetu Mohandas

Cast

Yash, Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth

Verdict

Toxic tries to be the antithesis of glorifying problematic characters but ends up pandering to them

Toxic movie review

Toxic is filled to the brim with characters over its 3-hour-14-minute runtime, who come and go at brief intervals. Despite whatever Yash (who received a co-credit for the story, screenplay, and dialogues) and Geetu intend, the ‘big reveal’ comes a little too late and does far too little for it to work. Most of the film is spent sacrificing any coherence at the altar of what’s supposed to be a powerful, sexy, and seemingly unbeatable character. Ever so often, guns, axes, knives and bombs are whipped out so Yash can hack into other men. After a point, one bloodbath rolls into another, and it’s hard to remember why exactly he’s fighting.

The oddities that stand out

There are exactly two characters in Toxic that make you feel anything for them remotely. Because underneath all the booze, drugs, violence, and general nonsense, Yash and Geetu want you to believe there’s a heart that beats. Ganga and Nadia make you empathise with them, but such moments are far too few in between. The main characters of this film, Raya and his estranged son Ticket (also Yash), have traumatic pasts that define them. But unfortunately, they are so unlikeable that it's hard to feel anything for them. Ticket even generates laughs and is unintentionally funny in scenes that are supposed to tug at your heart.

In conclusion

Yash and Geetu will want you to believe that Toxic is the antithesis of glorifying violent and problematic characters. They want you to believe that this film is about a man who becomes his own undoing. An anti-hero, or an outright villain, who faces the consequences of his actions. But this moment comes after over 3 heroes of babying, coddling and pandering to the whims of a man. Except for one, all the female leads exist to serve his heroism. One or two self-aware moments that show otherwise don’t negate the overall arch. This ‘fairy-tale' is actually a nightmare.