Toxic tells a story which must have sounded very interesting on paper. A few scenes are arresting while the scale is huge. Sadly, the goings-on are bizarre. One wonders where the story is heading. The twist is unexpected, but it doesn’t suit the zone and genre of the film at all. It ended up making the big-budget Toxic into a film festival type of cinema. The other problem with the film is that it was not ready until the last minute. Imagine a film whose shoot commenced in 2024 and wrapped in 2025, yet had its first show cancelled in 2026 because the print failed to arrive on time, as the makers were still putting the final touches on the film just hours before release! This has happened with several South films in the past. For a film of Toxic’s scale, such last-minute chaos reeks of unprofessionalism on the part of Yash and Geetu Mohandas. Speaking of performances, Yash puts in a lot of effort and looks dashing. But he also hams in a few scenes. Kiara Advani is the best performer in the film followed by Nayanthara. Both look stunning and perform ably. Tara Sutaria is a surprise; Huma Qureshi and Akshay Oberoi are dependable as always. Rukmini Vasanth is okay and her track is silly and boring. All in all, Toxic is a plain disappointment.

My rating - * ½ out of 5!