Thamma Review

Horror comedy films are among the most in-demand genres across languages in India. In Hindi, it has been proven multiple times that the horror comedy genre can earn hundreds of crores at the box office. After a huge blockbuster last year with the horror comedy film Stree 2, the production company Maddock Films, came up with yet another horror comedy, Thamma, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles. After creating considerable curiosity with the trailer and songs, the film was released in theatres today on the occasion of Diwali. Did Rashmika Mandanna continue her blockbuster success streak at the box office? Did Maddock Films score yet another money spinner at the box office? Did Ayushmann Khurrana score a hit yet again after ‘Dream Girl 2’? How did the talented actor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, do in the role of a bloodthirsty vampire? Let’s find out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Alok Goyal(Ayushmann Khurrana), a journalist, during a trekking trip, gets rescued by an enigmatic girl, Tadaka(Rashmika Mandanna) from an attack by a wild bear. Alok falls in love with Tadaka and eventually manages to escape along with Tadaka from the mysterious people in the forest. He later gets to know that Tadaka belongs to a group of blood thirsty mysterious species called ‘Betals’. What happens after Alok gets to know that Tadaka is a vampire? What did Tadaka do when Alok died in an accident? How did a normal human being like, Alok, end up becoming the king of Betals(Vampires)? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Paresh Rawal is the best thing that has happened to the film. He managed to entertain whenever he appeared on screen with his effortless dialogue delivery and comedy timing. Most of the ‘laugh out loud’ moments during the screening of the film in the theatre, belonged to him. Especially, his ability to generate humour even with a straight poker face and in a serious sequence, is a treat to watch. Geeta Agarwal Sharma in the role of a mother, made her presence felt. She managed to generate good laughs in a couple of sequences.

Ayushmann Khurrana was in his element during the comedy portions but he looked uninterested and lost during the romantic portions. Also, the action sequence with him during the climax looked odd. Rashmika Mandanna in the role of Tadaka Aka Tarika, performed well. As a blood thirsty vampire, she managed to emote well. She even set the screen on fire during the post-credit song with her oomphing dance moves.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a terrific actor but in Thamma, his performance irritates. His over-the-top performance in a poorly written role misfired big time. Sathyaraj and Abhishek Banerjee, were able to generate a few laughs with their cameo appearances.

Technicalities:

Sachin–Jigar’s songs and background score and Saurabh Goswami’s cinematography were adequate. There’s nothing special in their output. Both of them delivered a standard output that is required for a romantic horror comedy film. Hemanti Sarkar’s editing is below par. Especially, the editing in the first half is poor. Overall, at least fifteen minutes of the film would have been chopped to make it crisp. The VFX department did a decent job. Again, there is nothing special about the visual effects but adequate for the genre.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Paresh Rawal Comedy Timing
2.⁠ ⁠Partly Entertaining Second Half

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠First Half
2.⁠ ⁠Emotionless Romantic Track
3.⁠ ⁠Predictable Execution
4.⁠ ⁠Nawazuddin’s Character
5.⁠ ⁠Similarities With ‘Lokah’

Analysis:

‘Timing’ is the most important thing for a film to work well with the audience and at the box office. The comedy timing of the actors, the delivery timing of their dialogue, and even the release timing are all essential. The makers of, Thamma, the latest film from the ‘Maddock Horror Comedy Universe’, seem to have strictly believed in the timing when they announced the film. They hired actors with good comedy timing, which is very important for a horror film to work, and chose the Diwali festive season to release the film. A horror comedy film from a largely popular cinematic universe with renowned actors during the Diwali season, is a perfect recipe to score a blockbuster. Unfortunately, the team at Maddock Films when they announced the film, wouldn’t have expected that another film with almost similar concept would be released, just around two months before the release of, Thamma. We have seen almost everything that was shown in ‘Thamma’ in the Malayalam superhero comedy fantasy film, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, just around two months ago. If you have seen, Lokah, apart from a few comedy portions in the second half, nothing else in Thamma, will excite you. However, if you have not watched, Lokah, yet, there are chances for you to like Thamma.

Lokah worked so well because the makers of that film were true to their script and were unapologetic in their storytelling. But, in Thamma, we can see the team’s desperate attempt to package it with all the essential ingredients. They wanted to cater to the festive crowd during the Diwali season. So, they packaged it with romance, family drama, fantasy, comedy, action, two special songs and one post-credit song with excessive skin show by the actresses and a few cheap thrills in the name of ‘cinematic universe’. In an attempt to package it well, the director and his scriptwriting team, prepared and executed a script that has no soul. Eventually, the film ended up becoming neither a romantic horror comedy nor a fantasy superhero action comedy.

The first half of the film tests the patience at many places. Neither the comedy nor the romantic drama worked during the first hour of the film. But, the film picked up well right from the start of the second half and managed to engage and entertain for about thirty minutes. The comedy portions during this period were written well and the actors, Paresh Rawal, Abhishek Banerjee(cameo), Sathyaraj(cameo) along with Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna, with their comedy timing, made these thirty minutes of the film fairly engaging. Barring one sequence that was already shown in the trailer, nothing worked with Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character. Both his comedy and serious portions, irritate the audience throughout the film.

Overall, Thamma, is a disappointing film from ‘Maddock Horror Comedy Universe’. It may have worked to an extent had the film been released before the release of Lokah. But now, it has ended up becoming a tiring watch with a boring first half. Around thirty minutes in the second half was entertaining but is it enough for a film to sail through at the box office? Certainly, no.

Bottomline: Bollywood’s ‘Lokah’

Rating: 2.25/5