Star Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Paresh Rawal, Geeta Aggarwal Sharma
Director: Aditya Sarpotdar
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What’s Bad: Some stretching and convolutions in the second half
Loo Break: Horrors! You might miss something!
Watch or Not?: Definitely Yes
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 149 Minutes
User Rating:
The story begins in the time of Alexander the Great! Yakshasan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) drinks the invader’s blood. We then jump to the present time when reporter Alok (Ayushmann Khurrana) enters the jungle with his two companions, and they find themselves face-to-face with a cute-looking bear, who is anything but!
Alok is seriously injured and is looked after by Tadaka (Rashmika Mandanna) in his ‘residence’ (the interior of an abandoned plane) and is smitten by her. But she sure has some eerie traits and is quite simple-minded otherwise. He also has a fleeting interaction a while later with Yakshashan, who is now imprisoned in a cave by his people, the betaals, for 100 years for breaking a niyam (code of conduct). The betaals have their own history (not all good!) and ethics, and Tadaka is one too.
Tadaka saves Alok again when her people go after him, and Alok makes her join him in his escape flight. They reach his house, where his parents are observing a tribute to him, as Alok’s companions have informed them that he is no more! Tadaka begins to stay with them when Alok informs her that she has saved his life twice, and he has ‘saved’ her from an unsuitable marriage!
But Alok’s father, Ram Bajaj Goyal (Paresh Rawal), is suspicious about Tadaka, suspecting she is a gold-digger, and is also curious about why she has a name associated with a demon. Very soon, Alok is shattered when he comes to know that Tadaka is not a human being. Tadaka too reciprocates his love now.
And soon, Alok is captured again, and Tadaka must defy her people to try and save him. A chain of events takes place, involving cameos from the Maddock Films’ horror comedy franchises. So do we have a happy ending? Or a cliffhanger?
The script is a complete potpourri. The main story is (I must confess tastefully) garnished with some fresh and surprising elements, extremely witty and, on occasion, hilarious one-liners and situations (like the follow-up to Alok’s initial car-parking sequence, the first conversation between Alok’s parents, Tadaka and him, or the incident of the dog), and even the item songs are cerebrally interspersed within the narrative flow. I especially liked the post-accident sequence between Alok and his father in his bedroom.
We accept a lot of illogic, keeping in mind the genre and its franchise films, but there are a couple of unexplained bits that shall go unrevealed here, as they would be spoilers. Enough to state that they could have been avoided!
The romantic portions are kept cute and extremely endearing, with generous dollops of humor. The interval point is kept rightly dramatic and is the turning point in the plot. However, the climax (resembling in general tenor that of last year’s Diwali rocker and horror comedy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3) tends to be stretched when it could have been 10 minutes shorter.
Also, Alok seems to be too ‘idle’ for a reporter, especially for someone who makes reels. And his mother is ‘disposed of’ in the script when she could have been better utilized in the second half, more than the disapproving father. It seems that Paresh Rawal’s star stature alone made the script treat her as superfluous when convenient.
The introduction of the franchise characters is half-baked (Abhishek Banerjee) and overstretched (Varun Dhawan), while the third one is a blink-and-miss effort.
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Ayushmann Khurrana is in his element in the lighter scenes and conveys all the right gestures and looks throughout, also scoring in romance and emotions. Rashmika Mandanna is excellent as Tadaka, though her expressions are kept a shade limited because of the nature of her character. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is effective but tends to ham here and there—a regular trait with him in negative roles in commercial films, especially.
Faisal Malik makes an impression as the cop with his own secret, and Paresh Rawal impresses as the ‘seriocomic’ dad. Geeta Aggarwal Sharma is the perfectly affectionate screen mother of these times, like the older, much more dramatic Nirupa Roy and Durga Khote. Rachit Singh and Raj Premi, as the betaals, score brilliantly in their limited roles. Sathyaraj and Varun Dhawan are entertaining in their brief cameos.
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Aditya Sarpotdar does not have to prove himself in this genre, as proved by last year’s Munjya and Kakuda. He has a firm grasp on blending the two crucial genres of horror and comedy seamlessly. However, he could have curtailed the climax a bit. The 1947 link to the betaals was not really needed as a link to show that man could be bestial with each other. But for some minor nitpicks, the director is thus in good fettle yet again.
The cinematography and VFX are spectacular, and Sarpotdar must have had his own role in choosing the kind of work he wanted.
Sachin-Jigar’s music for Maddock is getting a shade stereotypical and predictable. And yet Tum mere na hue na sahi and Rahein na rahein hum work within their oh-so-familiar Maddock melody groove. Their background score, however, is exceptional, especially in the suspenseful and dramatic scenes.
A Diwali assortment, this film is like a mithai box where you do not expect some new or differently packaged things. But they appeal when being consumed amidst the familiar ingredients.
Four stars!
Thamma released on 21st October, 2025.
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