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Cast: Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, Akshay Oberoi, Rukmini Vasanth, Sudev Nair, Darrell D’Silva Directed by: G...
Cast: Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, Akshay Oberoi, Rukmini Vasanth, Sudev Nair, Darrell D’Silva
Directed by: Geetu Mohandas
Coming from a lady director, and kudos to her, Geetu Mohandas mounts the film on such a huge scale with captivating visuals which must have been a fairy tale for her. But that is all as far as she is concerned. She must have left the film to the fight choreographers to take over along with the DOP. Together they give you a fairy tale of blood-splitting, nerve-wrecking, over-the-top 194 minutes of splitting headache. The only way one withstood this torture was because of the swag & flamboyance of the ‘Rocking Star’ Yash who after the monumental success of KGF 2, must have realised that action & gore along with hamming is his way forward to his future cinematic journey. All the best to him! The first 35 minutes is so confusing (story by Yash & Geetu Mohandas) that one literally wants to tear his hair in despair. Finally when it settles down somewhat with the introduction of ‘second’ Yash as Ticket, the film goes fully downhill in the end of the second half tumbling over-the-cliff in the climax.
The year is 1947 when India attains its independence but the Portuguese have still not left Goa which is ruled by Salvador (Darrell D’Silva). Raya (Yash) and his elder sister Ganga (Nayanthara) join their his gang. But all is not smooth for them as they are constantly rebuffed by Elizabeth Salvador (Huma Qureshi) and her brother Tony (Akshay Oberoi) who are the children of Salvador’s younger brother. But with their bravado and cleverness Raya & Ganga soon assume important positions. Raya meets Rebecca (Tara Sutaria) the rebellious daughter of Salvador and sparks fly between them resulting in a passionate fling. Despite Rebecca falling head over heels with Raya, the latter is smitten by a circus star artist and owner Nadia (Kiara Advani). Much later Raya meets Mellisa (Rukhmini Vasanth) and Ticket. Who are they? What happens to Raya and Nadia? These form the rest of the film.
Yash is dashing and his action scenes and swagger are the highlights but he also hams and how. Kiara Advani is wonderful and is possibly the best of the lot. Nayanthara is solid and looks stunning. Huma Qureshi performs with gusto. Tara Sutaria does surprisingly well but Rukhmni Vasanth’s role leaves a lot to be desired. Akshay Oberoi and Sudev Nair (Karmadi) the right hand man of Raya & Ganga also leave a mark and so does Darrell D’Silva.
Cinematography by Rajeev Ravi is top notch giving a grand look to the film. The action directors keep feeding you with gore which is in sync with today’s times and films. One must also congratulate the production designer for giving a classy look to the film. Nothing much to write about the music- the only song that stands out is ‘Tabaahi’.
Toxic is a cocktail of KGF2 & Animal with no emotional content. The film is all about the swag and style of Yash but with no substance. As some people in the audience were saying after the show-‘What a headache of a film’!
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