Thamma movie review: Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna’s film has bloodthirsty vampires turning sappy in love

Maddock Films’ newest offering, its horror franchise, Thamma, featuring Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna, opens up a new world. After ghosts and werewolves, Thamma introduces the world of Vampires or ‘Betaals’ to the audience. Ayushmann returns to the big screen after a long hiatus, taking up a character which is similar to his previous films, yet strikingly different as it belongs to the fantasy fiction genre. Directed by Munjya director Aditya Sarpotdar, Thamma explores a new genre in the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe- MHCU- a name coined by the banner- where Vampires thrive on blood but also maintain an equilibrium between their world and our world.

Plot of Thamma

The film’s first scene goes back in time when Emperor Alexander, with his entourage, accidentally stumbles into a forest infested by Betals. Centuries later, rookie journalist Aloke Goyal (Khurrana) goes to the same forest with his friends for camping and gets lost in the middle and then is chased by a bear. He is rescued by one Thadaka (Madanna) a mysterious, alluring woman (or not) who nurses him back to health and even protects him from her own people, the ever hunting Betaals in the secret forest who are hunting for a human to offer to Thamma (leader of the pack) or Yakshasan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who has been held captive for over 75 years for breaking a cardinal rule- of sucking blood of humans and creating imbalance between two worlds.

As Yakshasan’s men continue their hunt for a human, Tadaka and Aloke elope from the jungle to Delhi, where Aloke’s father, a retired accountant (Paresh Rawal), grows suspicious of Tadaka’s actual identity. Is she a vampire or a spirit or a human with superpowers? More importantly, can her love for Aloke protect him from Yakshasan’s men?

What works in Thamma

The first half, when the world of Thamma is established, with Aloke and Tadaka discovering love for each other, is well executed. It’s a new film, a new story and one feels invested. Rashmika, who has been part of a few Bollywood films now, finally gets a role that gives her ample scope to perform, and she does not disappoint. She plays the wide-eyed, honest to a fault, good-hearted Betaal who hopelessly falls in love with a human and thus makes the biggest mistake of her life, jeopardising her community as well as the man she loves deeply. Rashmika plays the character is sincerity, highlighting the vulnerabilities and strengths of Tadaka well.

Giving her company is Ayushmann Khurrana. It’s always a delight to watch the actor perform. The script may not always be very cohesive, but Khurrrana, with his charm and natural acting, always manages to impress. He plays the usual Delhi boy, too self-assured, even though he fails at every juncture. But the film also gives him scope to try action along with comedy. He delivers the puns well, romances Rashmika and throws in punches when required.

Siddiqui also gets to play a motor-mouth, cocky villain who gets some interesting lines but has limited scope to completely showcase his talent. It's not Siddiqui’s fault; it is the poor writing that never flexes the actors well.

Paresh Rawal, Faisal Malik and Geeta Aggarwal are good in the limited screen time that they have.

What does not work

While the film manages to engage well in the first half and beautifully establishes the plot and the key characters, the curse of the second half sets in Thamma. Unnecessary cameos, an attempt to weave in other plots and characters from the franchise to build a connection, mar the narrative, making it sluggish. There are some sparks in between, one which involves Varun Dhawan’s Bhediya and Ayushmann’s Thamma battling it out. While the scene begins with the two taking each other down and dismissing each other’s potential (Vikas puri ka Warewolf and Sarojini ka sasta Vampire), the scene doesn’t end at the right place and stretches a bit too much.

A lot of the elements, I felt, were haphazardly put together. Aloke’s parents are very involved in their son’s life but somehow vanish in the second half, especially his mom.

Final verdict

Since Thamma is the fifth film in the horror franchise, expectations are high from this one. It comes from the universe, which has given us the funny Stree, the thought-provoking Bhediya and the surprisingly refreshing Munjya in the past. Thamma turns out to be a sappy love story, but never leaves a defining impression. It entertains in parts, a lot of pop culture references invoke the humour, has great music, and even a message about humans and compassion tucked in, but it isn’t half as impactful as the previous hit films from the franchise.

Thamma is now running in theatres across the country.