Music Director: Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi
DOP: Rajeev Ravi
Editor: Ujwal Kulkarni
Producer: Venkat K. Narayana
Presented By: KVN Productions, Monster Mind Creations
Production Company: KVN Productions, Monster Mind Creations
U.S. Distributor:

Related Links:Trailer

What Is the Film About?

Raya (Yash) and his sister (Nayanthara) lead a difficult life in the gangster world. How multiple women enter Raya's life and his conflict with his son, Ticket (younger Yash), form the basic storyline.

Performances

Yash, as Raya, delivers a committed performance and looks massive on screen, carrying himself with the commanding presence of a true Pan-India star. He has everything the role demands, but the biggest problem is that he still seems stuck in the KGF zone. From his look and costumes to his body language, the KGF hangover is visible throughout. That is the only major complaint about his performance.

The Telugu dubbing is another drawback. The dialogue delivery feels slow and dragged out, making Yash sound less impactful than he should.

Among the female cast, Nayanthara is surprisingly disappointing. Her character feels lifeless, and even her screen presence fails to make the expected impact. Kiara Advani makes a sincere attempt to emote and performs her part well, but her character does little to help the film.

Tara Sutaria appears in a glamorous role and delivers exactly what is expected of her. Rukmini Vasanth has a good screen presence, but she is given very little scope to perform. The same applies to Huma Qureshi.

Analysis

Yash's Toxic opens with a stylish, Hollywood-inspired mystery sequence introducing Kiara Advani. This is followed by Yash's entry as Raya, featuring a bold scene inside a car and a massive action block. The opening grabs attention, and the film looks visually grand on an enormous scale.

However, everything that follows until the interval is a classic case of all style and no substance. The first half is packed with nonstop action, but there is no clearly established conflict and barely any engaging drama.

Strangely, the film introduces several female characters and villains, with far too much happening on screen. Yet, the drama is difficult to follow and even harder to feel. Despite the endless guns, blood, violence, action and bold scenes, there is not a single genuinely high moment in the entire first half. None of these elements manage to lift the film out of its blandness.

There is a brother-sister thread, a Yash-Nayanthara thread, a Yash-Kiara Advani thread, another track involving Yash and Tara Sutaria, plus Huma Qureshi in the mix. Everything is thrown at the audience at once, turning the first half into a chaotic mess.

Sadly, the second half does not revive the film or improve the impression created by the first half. Instead, it takes the frustration up another notch.

Rukmini Vasanth's entry into the plot and the track involving Yash rescuing a child from deep water come across like an unintentional parody of a pan-India film. The sequence is so over-the-top that it brings back memories of scenes that were heavily trolled even a decade ago.

To make matters worse, the film introduces a psychological twist toward the end. If anyone still has the energy and patience to understand and process a twist suddenly thrown into this already chaotic plot, they deserve to be called both a patient viewer and a true genius.

The extremely long three-hour runtime does more than test your patience. It gets on your nerves. Strangely, across the entire film, there is hardly a single block worth appreciating, apart from the lavish scale and rich visuals.

Overall, TOXIC is a huge disappointment from Yash as his follow-up to the massive pan-India success of KGF. Despite the enormous scale and effort, the film disappoints on almost every count.

Performances by Other Actors

Toxic has a large supporting cast, but literally none of them makes any impact. Starting with Sudev Nair, Kyle Paul and Balaji Manohar, they all do their jobs well, but the script gives them very little to work with.

Music and Other Departments?

The music, composed by Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi is a major disappointment. The songs fail to make an impact, while the background score works only in parts. Overall, the music department falls well short of expectations.

Rajeev Ravi's cinematography is impressive, giving the film a lavish and grand visual appeal. However, Ujwal Kulkarni's editing is a major drawback. At nearly three hours, the film feels excessively long and desperately needs a tighter cut. The uneven pacing repeatedly tests the audience's patience.

The production values from KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations are excellent, matching the film's massive scale and ambition.

Highlights?

Rich visuals and massive scale

Drawbacks?

Convoluted plot

Unnecessary intimate scenes involving Yash

Overloaded cast with zero impact

Emotional scenes that never connect

Excessively long runtime

Did I Enjoy It?

No

Will You Recommend It?

No

Toxic Movie Reviewed by Kalyan

Live Updates

Toxic Review: A Toxic Waste!

The visuals are rich, and the film boasts a fine cast and massive scale. #Yash gives his all once again and looks massive on screen, but the team lacks clarity in the script, conflict and drama, resulting in a chaotic gangster film overloaded with women, pointless bold scenes and action episodes without any highs or purpose.

Film badly needs trimming. Telugu dubbing feels unnatural in places.

A disappointing follow-up to #KGF on many counts.

M9 Rating: 1.75/5

#TOXIC First Half: Heavy KGF Hangover!

Full of violence and style, but with little substance so far. #Yash is in full-on KGF mode as Raya. Lots of bold scenes with women and too many action blocks without any real highs. Yash's screen presence is superb. Interval block is decent.

Over to the second half!