Toxic Review Yash’s Big Disappointment

Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, Huma Qureshi

Story, Screenplay: Yash, Geetu Mohandas

Music: Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi

DOP: Rajeev Ravi

Editor: Ujwal Kulkarni

Producer: Venkat K. Narayana

Toxic revolves around Raya (Yash), a powerful figure caught in the dangerous world of crime, violence and gangsters. His complicated relationship with his sister (Nayanthara), the women who enter his life and his conflict with his son, Ticket, form the core of the story.

The film attempts to combine gangster drama, family emotions, action and psychological elements on a massive scale. However, the ambitious narrative struggles to bring these elements together into a coherent and emotionally engaging experience.

Yash delivers a committed performance as Raya and looks every bit like a larger-than-life Pan-India star. His screen presence is undeniable, and he carries the character with confidence and authority. However, the biggest issue is that the actor appears to remain within the familiar KGF zone. His styling, costumes, mannerisms and body language frequently remind viewers of Rocky Bhai, making Raya feel less like a completely new character.

The Telugu dubbing is another drawback. The dialogue delivery often feels slow and stretched, reducing the impact of several scenes and punch dialogues.

Nayanthara is surprisingly underwhelming. Her character lacks depth and energy, while her emotional scenes fail to create the expected impact.

Kiara Advani makes a sincere effort and performs her role well, but the writing does not provide her character with enough material to leave a lasting impression.

Tara Sutaria is primarily presented in a glamorous role and does what the character demands. Rukmini Vasanth has a decent screen presence but receives very limited scope to perform. Huma Qureshi, too, is wasted in a role that could have offered much more.

The supporting cast, including Sudev Nair, Kyle Paul and Balaji Manohar, performs adequately, but none of the characters gets enough depth to make a strong impression.

Toxic begins on a stylish note with a Hollywood-inspired mystery sequence introducing Kiara Advani. Yash’s entry as Raya follows with a bold car sequence and a massive action block. The opening immediately establishes the film’s scale and ambition, while the visuals look lavish and technically impressive.

Unfortunately, the film quickly turns into a case of style over substance.

The first half is loaded with action, violence, guns, bloodshed and glamour, but the central conflict is never established strongly enough. Multiple characters and storylines are introduced one after another, yet the emotional connection remains weak.

The film tries to balance several tracks — the brother-sister relationship, Raya and Nayanthara, Raya and Kiara Advani, Raya and Tara Sutaria, along with Huma Qureshi and other characters. Instead of creating layers, these parallel tracks make the narrative increasingly complicated and chaotic.

Despite the enormous action blocks and expensive production design, the first half lacks a genuinely memorable high point. The film keeps getting bigger visually without becoming stronger dramatically.

The second half does little to correct these problems. Rukmini Vasanth’s entry and the sequence involving Yash rescuing a child from deep water feel excessively melodramatic and over-the-top. Rather than creating an emotional high, the sequence may remind viewers of the kind of exaggerated scenes that have often been trolled in Indian commercial cinema.

Towards the climax, the film introduces a psychological twist. While the idea itself may have had potential, its placement within an already complicated narrative makes it difficult to fully connect with or appreciate.

The biggest problem is the nearly three-hour runtime. The film desperately needed sharper writing, better scene transitions and a much tighter edit. Several sequences could have been trimmed considerably without affecting the core story.

Ultimately, Toxic looks like a film made with enormous ambition, but the writing does not match its scale. The visuals are grand, the action is expensive and Yash remains a commanding screen presence, but the emotional and narrative impact is surprisingly limited.

The music by Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra and Tanishk Bagchi is disappointing. The songs fail to make a lasting impression, while the background score works only in patches. Considering Yash’s previous association with highly impactful music and background scores, the soundtrack falls short of expectations.

Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography is one of the film’s major strengths. Every frame carries a lavish and cinematic quality, and the film clearly benefits from its grand production design and visual ambition.

Ujwal Kulkarni’s editing, however, is a major weakness. The nearly three-hour runtime feels excessive, with several scenes demanding significant trimming. The uneven pacing repeatedly tests the audience’s patience.

The production values of KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations are top-notch. The scale, sets, action design and overall visual presentation clearly reflect the enormous investment behind the project.

Toxic is a massive disappointment despite its massive scale. Yash gives the film everything he can in terms of screen presence, but the character suffers from a noticeable KGF hangover. The film looks spectacular but lacks the emotional depth, engaging drama and tight storytelling needed to sustain its three-hour runtime.

For Yash fans, the lavish visuals and larger-than-life action may offer some moments to enjoy. For others, the chaotic screenplay, weak emotional connect, underwritten characters and excessive runtime make Toxic a tiring experience.