'Toxic' review: Yash leads exhausting, hollow gangster drama
What's the story
Kannada superstar Yash's ambitious revenge action thriller, Toxic, was finally released on Wednesday after numerous delays. Directed by Geetu Mohandas and co-written with Yash, it also stars Nayanthara, Tara Sutaria, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, and Rukmini Vasanth. Toxic features stellar production design and has been shot meticulously, but becomes a chore to sit through due to its confusing and ultimately hollow screenplay.
Plot
Yash plays dual roles: Raya and Ticket
Set in Goa, Toxic follows Raya (Yash), a power-hungry gangster who builds a large criminal empire through unapologetic, ruthless violence.
Nayanthara plays his sister, Ganga, while Advani essays his partner, Nadia, with whom he has a son, Ticket.
Raya abandons them, and when Ticket (also played by Yash) grows up, he seeks revenge.
Will Raya finally face the consequences of his actions?
#1
'Daddy's home,' but why?
Toxic underlines how toxicity can reverberate through generations through Raya's descent into madness, but it comes at the cost of three hours of incoherent mess.
There's style and visual grandeur aplenty, but such tricks can't fill the gaping void left by solid, intriguing writing.
You admire Yash and Mohandas's vision, but it remains constricted, and Toxic crumbles under the weight of its own ambitions.
#2
We struggle to connect to the characters
The Hindi dubbing is all over the place, especially pre-interval, and it doesn't help that each dialogue is a heavy-handed, stilted sermon.
The editing is extremely choppy; no scene is allowed to breathe properly, and most are caught in a weird state of rush.
As a result, no emotion ever lingers.
As characters pop up randomly, the film becomes increasingly confusing and muddled.
#3
No supporting character stays with you
Toxic also struggles to make a strong case for itself due to its sheer lack of formidable villains.
Like the rest of the characters, they are introduced haphazardly and then killed predictably.
It's a star vehicle through and through, and supporting characters have been relegated to the sidelines.
This also stands true for Qureshi and Sutaria's characters, Elizabeth and Rebecca, respectively.
#4
Advani-Yash's chemistry helps the narrative
Nadia and Raya's track lends the film a sense of calm, and Toxic is at its best during their segments.
Their fiery romance is the story's driving force, and you will be instantly drawn to Nadia's troubled, distressing life.
She's a circus performer, and the illusory, surreal setting exemplifies the film's themes—Which parts of ours do we conceal? And which ones do we reveal?
#5
Yash hits it out of the park
Yash's terrific, spellbinding screen presence does the heavy lifting in Toxic, and you would love to hate Raya.
He's authoritarian, unforgiving, and selfish, and has one solution to all problems: endless, macabre violence.
And, as Ticket, he's a complete revelation.
He unleashes manic, feral energy with anger coursing through his veins, and Yash's memorable performance becomes the film's only saving grace.
Verdict
A stylish, ambitious world, but nothing else; 2/5 stars
Toxic excels in the production design, and the film is consistently stunning to look at (particularly the circus scenes).
However, style crushes substance, and we're left with a laborious film that runs forever (three hours, 14 minutes).
Yash delivers an enthralling performance, but the lack of engaging writing deflates the entire movie.
Toxic is all dressed up with nowhere to go.
2/5 stars.