The Vvaan Review: This Ekta Kapoor's Tulsi Virani-coded world can't be saved by Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia

Oh God, please forgive them! This is the first thought that comes to mind after watching Sidharth Malhotra's The Vvann: Force of the Forrest, which is backed by Ekta Kapoor. For context, in Indian cinema, religion and its gods have always played a very crucial role, to the point that films like Jai Santoshi Maa, which has made people worship the goddess. And, for a long time, even now, Indian audiences have been enjoying it, with movies heavily relying on faith, folklore and mythological stories.

In this film, things have surely gone out of hand, with every scene, dialogue, and song seemingly designed to provoke around religion, as if you are watching an extended version of Gulshan Kumar's 90s video of a devotional song. But the only difference here is the good camera and the team of good-looking actors.

The Vvaan: Story lost in its own jungle

Like any other film, the movie opens with a heroic scene featuring Sidharth Malhotra, who plays Rishi, showing off his skills as he saves a child and a group of workers from a JCB that has malfunctioned. And as expected, our hero saves them.

Still from Vvaan Photograph: (X)

Then the music plays, and in a heroic moment, water splashes on the Shivling. So, yeah, that was the entry we got to see, followed by a beautiful, truly soothing song with the sweet and lovely couple (Malhotra as Rishi and Tamannaah Bhatia as Mamta) dancing, and after this warm-up, the movie actually begins.

Rishi and Mamta are living in Mumbai, and there only dream is to have a child. To solve a property matter and also to celebrate Chhath, the couple goes back to their town, Devanchal, where there is a forest called Dev Van, and a goddess called Vann Devi, who is protecting the village from bad omens and demons. Atheist Rishi returns to his village and is quick to question the villagers and their belief in superstitions, which has become a hindrance to development, as their only fear is supernatural forces. How Rishi breaks this centuries-old curse of the jungle forms the rest of the story.

Still from Vvaan Photograph: (X)

Vvann: It's Ekta Kapoor's world on the big screen.

From the very first frame, the over-fictionalised setting of the film feels artificial, with the sets looking staged and unrealistic. Despite this, the beginning starts on a promising note, before things only get worse. Stories around forest legends and their folklore have time and again inspired films that have impressed viewers, but director Deepak Kumar Mishra’s take on the theme feels distant and is mostly overburdened by dramatisation of religion, beliefs, and stories, to the point that it felt like I was watching Ekta Kapoor’s famous hit show Naagin, or even Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. The two-hour-long film has several scenes that give you déjà vu of daily soaps, whether it's Shweta Tiwari's shouting sequence in the hospital, the Chhath festival sequence, or even the climax where Rishi stops his wife from participating in the fast. Then there's Tamannaah's monologue, followed by yet another festival portion, where the heroine is drowning in the water, and the hero is the one saving her. All these inputs come directly from Kapoor's world of daily soaps.

Still from Vvaan Photograph: (X)

The narration feels like a cut-and-paste of many past films. At one point, I felt I was watching Rishab Shetty’s Kantara; the very next moment, I was in S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR or Baahubali universe, with a pinch of Kajol’s Maa thrown in and also Stree, and there are a few other names I am definitely forgetting. In the film, there is a scene, where Rishi, who is an atheist, walks in front of the goddess’s temple, a very Deewaar-coded moment (that scene is iconic in Indian cinema). Amid all the comical dialogues and scenes, the only part I enjoyed was Paul as Ved. Suniel Grover's turn as the villain looks promising, until he gets those spidey-like black eyes.

With the amount of money invested in the film, the camera work and production design make the movie look grand and visually polished, whether it’s the tiger sequences or the ghost portions. The scale is evident on screen, and technically, the film creates moments of spectacle that briefly lift the otherwise wafer-thin narrative. In the first half, the combination of mythology with folklore genuinely excites the curious viewer. But soon, as the layers of the story start to unravel, all that remains is melodrama. Malhotra truly carries the film with his performance and does everything he possibly could for it, and so do the other actors. Tamannaah brings her charm, but her role in limited/

In brief, Vvaan is a very Ekta Kapoor's Tulsi Virani world, in which, Sidharth has made his debut as the divine hero, and he can't save this film with his looks.