Nayanthara

Movie Name : Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups

Release Date : August 26, 2026

123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5

Starring : Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, Huma Qureshi and Others
Director : Geetu Mohandas
Producers : Venkat K. Narayana and Yash
Music Directors : Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, and Others
Cinematographer : Rajeev Ravi
Editor : Ujwal Kulkarni

Related Links : Trailer

Toxic marks Rocking Star Yash’s big-screen return after four years, following KGF 2. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, the film arrived amid massive expectations and strong advance bookings. Whether it lives up to the hype is what this review explores.

Story:

Set in Goa in 1947, Raya (Yash) continues to dominate the illegal trade alongside his sister Ganga (Nayanthara), working for Salvador. Salvador gets his daughter Rebecca (Tara Sutaria) married to Raya. However, Raya falls in love with Nadia (Kiara Advani), a circus performer, and has a child with her. Circumstances eventually force him to leave Nadia. Later, unexpected events unfold, bringing Raya face-to-face with his son, Ticket (Yash). What happens next forms the crux of the story.

Plus Points:

Expectations are naturally high for Toxic, given that it is Yash’s next film after a string of major successes. As expected, the team has created enormous hype around the movie, and that itself is a big win.

Coming to the film, Yash carries the same swag and style that he displayed in the KGF franchise. His screen presence remains strong, and his dialogue delivery follows a similar tone. However, his other role, Ticket, is different in terms of looks and performance. It is interesting to see Yash explore another side of his performance, and he pulls it off well.

Among the five female leads, Kiara Advani gets one of the more substantial roles to perform. Her eyes speak more than her words, and her scenes with Yash work better than most of the film’s emotional portions. She carries the character well.

Huma Qureshi is adequate in her role, though more could have been explored through her character. Nayanthara, too, delivers a restrained performance. Her character has depth, but the writing could have elevated her role further.

Minus Points:

The biggest problem with Toxic is its story and screenplay. The basic story is quite simple, which is not necessarily a problem by itself, but the makers stretch it across 194 minutes without providing enough narrative or emotional development to justify the runtime.

If a scene is going to be stretched, it should have a purpose, whether it is world-building, character development or emotional progression. Unfortunately, Toxic often prolongs scenes without achieving any of these. The first half spends considerable time on violence, intimacy and preachy dialogues, while the actual story barely moves forward. The second half fares no better, with several prolonged episodes that severely test the audience’s patience. In the process, the message and the twist Geetu Mohandas intends to convey get diluted – and eventually lose much of their impact.

The film is undoubtedly stylish, but its visual grandeur repeatedly comes at the expense of substance. At times, you can also spot parallels with a few major films. There are glimpses of interesting ideas, but they are not developed strongly enough to leave a lasting impact.

The star cast is huge, but only a handful of actors get meaningful material. Nayanthara once again delivers a restrained performance, and her character has depth, but she could have been utilized better. Rukmini Vasanth has very little to contribute, while Tara Sutaria also has limited scope. Sudheev Nair gets a role, but even his character could have been utilised better. The rest of the ensemble barely makes an impact. It feels like a waste of such a large and talented cast.

The dialogues sound preachy and unnecessary for much of the runtime. Instead of allowing the characters and situations to speak for themselves, the writing often spells things out.

The film is also packed with violence and intimacy, but their excessive use doesn’t always add value to the narrative. More importantly, the face-offs between Raya and Ticket fail to develop the emotional weight expected from a father-son conflict. Considering that Yash plays both characters, this relationship had the potential to become one of the film’s biggest strengths, but the writing never gives it enough depth.

Technical Aspects:

Geetu Mohandas attempts to tell a story on a massive canvas, and the ambition is clearly visible. However, the direction needed a firmer hand. The inclusion of excessive violence and several scenes that add little to the story ultimately hurt the film’s pacing and impact.

Music by Ravi Basrur and others feels like heavy metal being played right next to your head. The background score is excessively loud in several places, while the characters often seem to scream as though they are miles apart. The songs are also not particularly impressive. Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography is satisfactory and complements the film’s grand scale. The production design and visuals are among the film’s stronger aspects.

Ujwal Kulkarni’s editing is uneven. At certain places, the editing works well, while at others, the film desperately needed tighter cuts. The prolonged sequences contribute heavily to the feeling that the 194-minute runtime is far longer than necessary.

The production values are fine, and the makers clearly haven’t held back in terms of scale. The massive sets, lavish houses, action sequences and overall production design look rich and grand, reflecting the effort and money invested in the film. Unfortunately, the visual grandeur cannot compensate for the weaknesses in the writing.

Verdict:

On the whole, Toxic is not even the fairy tale for grown-ups it promises to be. Yash does his part and remains the film’s biggest strength, but the simple story is stretched far beyond what it can sustain. The emotional impact is diluted by excessive violence, intimate scenes and prolonged sequences, while the preachy dialogues become tiresome. Several characters and their arcs are underdeveloped, weakening the intended impact, and the father-son conflict never gains the emotional depth needed to make their relationship compelling. Toxic looks stylish and expensive, but beneath all the spectacle lies a screenplay too thin to justify its 194-minute runtime. Yash fans and a section of action-film lovers may find it appealing, but the rest can look for better alternatives.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team