The story unfolds between 1947 and 1970, beginning amidst a conflict between mafia factions vying for control over Goa. The protagonist, Yash—a spirited and ruthless young man—teams up with his sister, Nayanthara, to hunt down their enemies. Nayanthara harbors a burning desire for her brother to rule the entire city; however, a key ally supporting this ambition is suddenly killed due to a conspiracy. Following his sister’s murder, Yash leaves Goa and expands his empire into China.
Circumstances eventually force Yash to return to Goa. Upon learning of his arrival, his wife, Kiara Advani, commits suicide. Yash attempts to kill his own ten-year-old son but fails to go through with it, ultimately driving the boy away instead.
Yash resumes running his empire in Goa and settles down with his new wife, Rukmini Vasanth, with whom he has a child; however, a series of events turns his life upside down, placing both his empire and his son in grave danger. ‘Toxic’ is a grand cinematic spectacle that explores whether Yash manages to save his son and his empire from this peril and reveals the identities of those orchestrating the threat.
The film falters disastrously due to the misguided belief that the massive expectations generated by the success of ‘KGF’ could be satisfied simply by piling on grandeur and violent action sequences.
‘Toxic’ serves as a stark reminder that without a strong story and a screenplay rooted in our culture, audiences will reject a film—no matter how grand its scale—as mere trash. Yash, playing the dual roles of father and son (Raya and Ticket), leads a life steeped in violence and obscenity—sporting various Western outfits, reveling with different women, consuming alcohol from an array of bottles, and hacking off heads and limbs in the blink of an eye. Both father and son are equally ruthless, slaughtering people in droves. Throughout the film, Yash is constantly seen smoking, standing nude, engaging in gunfights, and hacking down enemies; he attempts a bit of actual acting just before the climax, but even there, the dominance of action sequences causes the actor Yash to fade into the background.
Nayanthara, playing Yash’s sister, makes a smashing entry in a few high-octane scenes early on but is relegated to standing silently like a mere prop in subsequent scenes.
Regarding the film’s female cast—Kiara Advani (first wife), Rukmini Vasanth (second wife), Tara Sutaria (girlfriend), and Huma Qureshi (villain)—their costumes garner more attention than their actual performances.
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‘Toxic’ promises a novel cinematic experience – Chennai…
Cinematographer Rajeev Ravi has presented the film on a grand scale, seamlessly integrating graphic sequences with live-action footage. The color palette used to visualize the costumes and settings of the 1947–1970 era is truly breathtaking.
While the songs composed by Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, and Tanishk Bagchi fail to impress, the background score effectively complements the action sequences. Since the film is replete with violent sequences, the accompanying background score often assaults the audience’s ears with excessive volume.
The sheer number of subplots and characters seems to have overwhelmed editor Ujwal Kulkarni, a confusion that is evident in the very way the story is narrated. This confusion rubs off on the audience; viewers are left bewildered—unsure if the story is being told from the father’s or the son’s perspective—and often ask others what the plot actually is once the first half concludes. Although Kulkarni eventually clarifies the storyline in the second half, one is left wondering, “Was all this chaos really worth it?”
While the story conceived by Yash and Geetu Mohandas contains numerous subplots, the failure to articulate them clearly—prioritizing grandeur and action sequences over the narrative itself—is a major weakness of the film.
Determined to present the story in a Hollywood style regardless of the actual plot, director Geetu Mohandas has subjected the audience to an ordeal by inserting unnecessary scenes. The film is cluttered with violence and obscene scenes involving women from start to finish; furthermore, by failing to present any aspect in an engaging manner—opting instead for a style that irritates the viewer—the director has turned the movie into a mess.
As the aggressive Yash goes on a rampage—hacking and shooting down opponents—the audience eventually begins to fear that the violence might spill over onto them. The screen is so saturated with weapons and corpses…
