Bengaluru, India – When a director and an actor with polar-opposite sensibilities come together, you hope for a 50-50 balance where their individual styles meet somewhere in the middle. In Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, the disconnect between Geetu Mohandas’ artistic vision and Yash’s larger-than-life star image is painfully apparent. The result is an ambitious misfire—a film that is visually grand, relentlessly showy, but ultimately hollow where it matters most.
The gangster-drama thread revolves around the opium trade in Goa around Independence, when the region was still under Portuguese rule. Raya (Yash), a trusted associate of crime boss Salvador, sets his sights on monopolising the trade. The film’s human side explores Raya’s complicated relationship with women—drawn to Salvador’s daughter Rebecca (Tara Sutaria) out of need rather than affection, until he falls for circus performer Nadia (Kiara Advani). Mesmerized by Nadia, a violent and increasingly “toxic” Raya loses focus on the empire he dreams of building.
The love story starts promisingly. Nadia holds a mirror up to Raya’s animalistic attitude. “Next time when you make love, I feel like you care about me and not feel attacked,” she tells him. For a while, Nadia seems to have some semblance of personality amid a host of characters who appear plastic. Sudev Nair, as Raya’s trusted soldier, is completely wasted. But the relationship never blossoms into anything particularly interesting, as Toxic crams in one plot point after another.
A Clash of Visions
With Toxic, Yash makes it clear that he is, above all, an image-conscious star. The dialogues of his character, which he is now understood to have written, feel like they belong to the KGF universe. Even his dialogue delivery seems like an extension of his performance in KGF. None of it fits the world of Toxic. It’s obvious to wonder how this film could have been, had it made room for more drama. Why does every conversation between Raya and his lady love have to lead to sex? Why do filmmakers forget the magic of intense conversation?
The five main lead female characters (Huma Qureshi and Rukmini Vasanth being the other two) start off with promise, but don’t get enough room to make a difference to the story. Geetu Mohandas’ staging often feels painfully artificial. Characters stand around in fixed positions and deliver their lines, as though they are waiting for their turn to speak. There is little movement, spontaneity or unpredictability in these scenes; everything feels very carefully arranged and not particularly lived-in.
Violence Without Purpose
Raya turns to violence because, at one point, it is the only way he can save his sister Ganga (Nayanthara). But the violence soon becomes inseparable from him, clinging to him like a second skin. After a while though, the endless gunfire and action sequences begin to feel stale and exhausting. There is neither a compelling reason for Raya’s thirst for blood, nor a worthy adversary to challenge him, until his son Ticket (Yash again) jolts him out of his violent stupor.
That’s when the film touches upon its most interesting idea: the psychology of a gangster who is dead inside after losing the people he loves. Yash gives his all to Raya’s vulnerable moments, even if his committed performance doesn’t always hit the mark. As the reckless Ticket, he is completely unhinged, and once again, the result is more interesting than it is outright perfect.
Style Over Substance
Toxic finds its purpose far too late. Until then, the film holds our attention largely through its visual grandeur—slick action, gorgeous frames, and enormous production design. We sit through it all, desperately hoping that they will eventually be backed by a compelling story. Geetu had an idea, and Yash had a vision for it. But what we finally receive is a mismatched blend of both.
At nearly 194 minutes, Toxic is exhausting in more ways than one. Ujwal Kulkarni’s choppy editing only makes matters worse. The film is a testament to what happens when a director’s artistic ambitions are overwhelmed by a star’s need to protect his image. It’s a gangster drama with a difference, yes—but not the kind of difference that makes for good cinema.
Toxic is currently running in theatres.
