I went into Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups with genuine excitement. I had even written about my anticipation before watching it, driven largely by the intriguing title, the striking pre-release material and, most importantly, the idea of seeing what Geetu Mohandas, the filmmaker behind Liar’s Dice and Moothon, would do with a superstar like Yash.
Having watched it, the biggest issue with Toxic is also the simplest one: the film appears to have spent an enormous amount of time, money, energy and imagination creating a visual world, while forgetting that visuals need a strong narrative to hold them together.
There is no denying the craft. Almost every frame is stylised, with dark settings, sepia tones, elaborate production design and carefully constructed action. It is clear that the makers wanted Toxic to look unlike a conventional star vehicle.
But cinema cannot survive on visuals alone. The pre-interval stretch in particular feels like a collection of creative shots, ideas and sequences placed next to each other without generating enough narrative momentum. One keeps waiting for the story to take over from the spectacle, but it rarely does.
The dialogue “Meri mother tongue hi violence hai” almost sums up the film’s intent. The makers clearly want violence, attitude, darkness and swagger to define this world. Even “Do I look civilized?”, one of the lines that created curiosity in the promotional material, feels more designed to create sensation than to add dramatic weight.
There are several such moments. The film keeps trying to make an impression, but very few of them stay with you because the story does not consistently give them enough meaning.
The runtime only makes the problem more visible. A film crossing three hours is not automatically excessive. Dhurandhar proved that a long film can hold attention when the narrative gives the audience enough to invest in. Toxic does not have that same storytelling anchor. At times, the additional runtime feels less like an expansive story and more like material that could not find its way out of the final cut.
“Time means nothing,” says one character. Watching Toxic, that line acquires an unintended irony.
Yash, however, remains one of the film’s strongest elements. He is good, carries the swagger effortlessly and surprisingly looks very comfortable in the clean-shaven avatar. There is a certain charm to this version of him. But even Yash needs a strong script to turn screen presence into a lasting character.
Kiara Advani and Nayanthara look beautiful and bring distinctly different energies. Kiara gets the more emotional, gullible and vulnerable side, while Nayanthara carries strength, confidence and beauty with ease. Both add to the visual appeal, though the writing does not always give their characters enough depth.
And that is ultimately what makes Toxic frustrating. The film does not look like something made without conviction. Quite the opposite. There is immense effort visible in almost every department. It feels like the makers had an abundance of ideas but not a strong enough narrative spine to connect them.
For Yash fans, that may still be enough. There is spectacle, attitude, action and plenty of star appeal. But for audiences looking beyond Yash and the visual extravaganza, Toxic can feel like an elaborate showreel with random dialogues, emotions and sequences searching for a story.
The ambition is impressive. The execution is striking. But the story simply isn’t strong enough to carry all that weight.
Movie: Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups
Directed by: Geetu Mohandas
Written by: Yash, Geetu Mohandas
Story by: Geetu Mohandas
Featuring: Yash, Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, Akshay Oberoi, Darrell D’Silva, Sudev Nair
Cinematography: Rajeev Ravi
Edited by: Ujwal Kulkarni
Theatrical Release Date: 26 August 2026
Run Time: 3hrs 14mins
Language: Hindi (Dub)
Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups
2.5
