Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups

There are very few films that live up to their title, and Geetu Mohandas’ latest directorial venture, Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown Ups, is one of them. The film is more toxic than your red-flag ex and more a tale of horror than a fairy tale, even for grown-ups. Featuring Yash in an all-encompassing role, Toxic numbs you from the very beginning with its over-the-top drama, VFX, and too much screeching. Nothing in the film is subtle; everything and everyone is loud. And with a plot that is hard to fathom, Toxic feels a bit too much- much like its crowded star cast.

Toxic positions itself as ‘A Fairy Tale for Grown Ups’ but I don’t know which part of that description fits this hack job spanning five decades. Though the scene is bursting with all kinds of magical looking women, there are no fairies, godmothers, spells, myths and lore of adult or any kind to be found in this 190-plus minutes long stab at nothingness. Purely relying on Yash’s aura to the point of draining him dry, the spectacle doesn’t have an smidgen of storytelling in its body rolling in sex, shock and sounds of bullets fired at anyone and everyone.

A love so raw, it hurts. Everybody in the vicinity. And there are guns ready to blast off all around. Drama that emerges after an hour of confused mayhem finds tearful fiancee/bride Rebecca (Tara Sutaria), Raya (Yash) oozing uncontrolled testosterone, an extramarital passion with Circuswali Nadia (Kiara Advani) and Raya’s sister Ganga (Nayanthara) who’s sold herself early to take care of bro’s hungry tummy. But, as a line in the film goes, men have no brains below the tummy. On the sidelines cackles blood thirsty rival gangster Elizabeth (Huma Qureshi). A somewhat watchable story gets gnarled with blurred timelines, fragmented scenes and a hero who rasps rather than talks.

देखो जी, सीधी-सी बात यह है कि जिस फिल्म को बनाने वालों ने अपने टीज़र, ट्रेलर, गानों और प्रचार के साथ-साथ फिल्म के नाम तक में यह बता दिया हो कि वे लोग आपको टॉक्सिक यानी ज़हरीला मनोरंजन परोसने जा रहे हैं और जिस फिल्म के नाम की टैगलाइन बड़ी साफगोई से ‘बड़ों के लिए एक परी-कथा’ होने का दावा कर रही हो उसे लेकर आप चाहे जितना मुंह बनाएं, सिर खपाएं, खून जलाएं, इससे उन लोगों को बिल्कुल फर्क नहीं पड़ता जिन्हें इस किस्म की फिल्में बनानी हैं या देखनी हैं। रिलीज़ के दिन सुबह-सुबह के पहले शो में लगभग पूरे भरे हुए थिएटर में मेरे बगल में बैठे शख्स ने बताया कि रात की बस पकड़ कर आज सुबह उत्तराखंड से दिल्ली लौटा हूं और घर जाने की बजाय पहले थिएटर में आया हूं। क्यों? जवाब मिला-‘रॉकी भाई की फिल्म तो देखनी ही थी न।’ लो कर लो अब रिव्यू।

There are many bad films. I’ve seen bad films week after week. But there are bad films, and then there are really bad films. And then there is something like Geetu Mohandas’ Yash-starrer Toxic. The biggest problem with Toxic is not the lack of resources. In fact, it’s the opposite. The makers had everything you could possibly need to make a big, ambitious film: a superstar, a producer with money, a fantastic technical team, some of the biggest actresses, good music, huge sets, international locations and all the money required to create a spectacle. What they didn’t have was a good story.