Yash’s much-awaited Toxic arrives as a massive Pan-India action drama directed by Geetu Mohandas, who also shares screenplay credits with Yash. The film features a star-studded cast including Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, and Huma Qureshi. With music by Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, and Tanishk Bagchi, cinematography by Rajeev Ravi, and editing by Ujwal Kulkarni, the film boasts an impressive technical team. Produced by Venkat K. Narayana and presented by KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations, Toxic comes with huge expectations, especially after Yash’s massive success with KGF. But does this stylish action spectacle have enough substance to live up to the hype? Let’s find out.
Story:
Raya (Yash) rules the Goa underground alongside his sister, Ganga (Nayanthara), under the command of Salvador. When Salvador arranges Raya’s marriage to his daughter Rebecca (Tara Sutaria), Raya falls deeply in love with Nadia (Kiara Advani). Their relationship blossoms, and they have a son together. But fate forces Raya to walk away from Nadia. Years later, fate brings Raya face-to-face with a young man named Ticket (Yash), his own son, leaving him to face his past. How he does all this is the basic story of the film.
What about on-screen performance?
Yash delivers a dedicated performance as Raya and once again proves he is one of India’s biggest stars. He has a strong screen presence, looks powerful in every frame, and carries the film on his shoulders with ease. Whether it is the action sequences, emotional moments, or intense confrontations, Yash is one of the film’s biggest strengths.
Among the female cast, Nayanthara is the biggest disappointment. Despite playing a significant role, her character lacks depth and emotional weight. Even her usually commanding screen presence feels surprisingly muted.
Kiara Advani performs sincerely and handles her emotional scenes well. However, the writing does not give her enough material to leave a lasting impression. She is there just for the sake of glamor and nothing else. Tara Sutaria appears in a glamorous role and does exactly what the character demands.
Rukmini Vasanth leaves a positive impression despite her limited screen time. She brings natural charm to her role and looks confident whenever she appears on screen. There is a certain freshness in her performance, and she manages to stand out in a few key moments. However, her character feels underwritten.
Huma Qureshi faces a similar problem. She is a capable performer with a strong screen presence, but the film barely utilizes her potential. Her character enters the story with some promise, creating expectations of a substantial role in the narrative. Unfortunately, she is reduced to a few brief moments.
What about off-screen talents?
For starters, the Telugu dubbing works against him. The dialogue delivery sounds unusually slow and stretched in several scenes, affecting the punch and intensity that Yash’s character requires. Not only his but for other actors too, the dubbing is a huge letdown.
There is no denying the fact that the shadow of KGF follows Yash’s role throughout the film. From his rugged appearance and styling to the way he walks, talks, and reacts in several scenes, the resemblance to Rocky Bhai is quite evident. While Yash’s performance is solid, the lack of freshness is visible.
One of the biggest surprises in Toxic is its underwhelming background score. Ravi Basrur, who is known for his scores, disappoints big time. Vishal Mishra and Tanishk Bagchi’s work is not up to standard. None of the songs leave a lasting impression.
On the technical front, cinematographer Rajeev Ravi does an outstanding job. The cinematography adds significant value, and the production design successfully transports viewers into the world of Toxic. The production values from KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations are top-notch.
However, Ujwal Kulkarni’s editing is a major concern. The film runs for nearly three hours, and that length becomes increasingly noticeable as the story progresses. Several scenes feel stretched beyond necessity, and many portions could have been trimmed.
Geetu Mohandas, the director of the film made tall claims about Toxic, but one of the biggest demerits of the film is her narrative itself. Being a co-writer, she mainly forgot about the screenplay and made Toxic a huge mess. Nowhere in her narrative, she had hold on to the emotions and only concentrated on the visual impact of the film. As she is a new director, she faulted completely with her directional skills, and one can clearly understand that Yash ghost directed the film for the most part.
After a reasonably engaging start, Toxic quickly loses its way and turns into a film that prioritizes style over storytelling. The first half is loaded with action sequences, slow-motion shots, stylish visuals, violence, and larger-than-life moments, but very little of it contributes to a compelling narrative.
Another major problem is the overwhelming number of characters and subplots. There is a brother-sister track, a relationship angle involving Yash and Nayanthara, and another involving Yash and Kiara Advani. However, instead of enriching the story, these threads create confusion.
Usually, mass entertainers rely on powerful elevation scenes, but Toxic struggles to generate that excitement. The action is abundant, but the emotional points are missing. As a result, many sequences feel repetitive rather than thrilling.
If audiences expect the second half to bring clarity and direction, they may be disappointed. Instead of addressing the issues established earlier, the narrative becomes even more chaotic.
As the film approaches its climax, it introduces a psychological angle and a major twist that appears out of nowhere. However, because the screenplay has already distracted viewers with too many characters, the twist struggles to create an impact.
By the end, Toxic feels like a film overflowing with ideas but lacking the narrative discipline needed to bring them together. It is ambitious in scale, visually stylish, and constantly busy, yet it fails to create the emotional impact.
What’s Good?
Production values
Yash’s performance
What’s Bad?
Lack of emotions
Repetetive scenes
Too much boldness
Screenplay issues
Verdict:
Overall, Toxic fails to match its visual grandeur with strong storytelling. Yash’s commanding screen presence is visible, but a weak screenplay, excessive runtime, confusing subplots, uneven pacing, and lack of emotional depth drag the film down.
Telugubulletin Rating 2/5
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