Introduction
The film that was teased at the end of Stree 2 has finally hit the theatres this Diwali. Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles, with Paresh Rawal, Geeta Agarwal Sharma, and Faisal malik in supporting roles, this is the fifth instalment of Maddock Film's horror-comedy universe, known popularly as The MHCU! Thamma carries and maintains the essence of it's universe for most parts but the pressure of developing a standalone film from scratch and delivering with it, big time, that too in an already popular and highly expected universe, has cost the makers some merit.
Basic Plot
An independent journalist gets lost in a jungle while camping and gets rescued by a woman who's not what see seems.
Positives
Performances
Cast performances have been commendable here and it's the acting department that pulls the film out whenever the screenplay dips beyond recovery. Ayushmann Khurrana is quite good as a journalist, Alok Goyal, and what helps him here is the naturally charming personality and good comic timing that he possesses. He doesn’t have to try too hard to be funny — his actions and body language do the job quite well. What's interesting though, is undoubtedly Rashmika Mandanna's character. She’s perhaps the only female character in this universe with a genuinely meaty role, even though the film doesn’t spotlight her — unlike Shraddha Kapoor from the Stree franchise, whose character felt substantial mainly because she was the central focus. Rashmika surely needs to work on her pronunciation and accent, and that's understandable, but having starred in quite a few big budget Hindi films now, namely Animal and Chhaava, she has seriously delivered this time around in Thamma. Her character has limited abilities to show emotions and I love how she acted with restrained feelings to fit into her character. The so-called 'chemistry' between Khurrana and Mandanna is good and while it is quite fast paced with less room for development, it's enough for a film of this genre and so, it's a plus. The supporting cast performances are commendable but the leading pair manage to leave a mark amidst all, that happens in the film.
Music, Writing, and Visuals
Sachin-Jigar have majorly been associated with MHCU and Thamma is no different. Their compositions are quite nice, although I did not really realize the requirement of three item songs. The background score uplifts the film during important scenes and that's a thumb's up. Writer Niren Bhatt has been writing several of the Maddock films in the recent past, and while Thamma isn't his best, it still holds up well especially due to Bhatt's comedy placement and linear pacing. The interval block is fueled by 'women empowerment' stuff, quite similar to Stree 2 though, which keeps the uniformity of the universe intact. The direction by Aditya Sarpotdar has been able to keep up with the writing for most parts. It's no secret that several of the key scenes could've been set-up way better— majority of the underwhelms have come from several other aspects, with the director, not to be blamed beyond a point. The camera work by Saurabh Goswami has been good and Hemanti Sarkar's editing, decent, but it's the production value and technical departments that have collectively enhanced the visual aesthetics of the film.
Underwhelming Aspects
Tad Inconsistency, Superficiality, and Expectations
What director Aditya Sarpotdar did not really achieve with Thamma is the sheer chaotic madness that the earlier films of the MHCU had, and that too, in plenty. Thamma unfortunately, after all the hype and expectations, ends up becoming just another horror-comedy, without much of an X-factor coming into play. You may surely wonder why I did not feel the core concept to be worthy enough for the film to stand out in the crowd, but folks, it takes more than a new idea to design a film that's being marketed as an epic! The setting up of the supernatural and combining it with the human world has not been up to expectations in this film. While small gestures and minor nuances, that enhance the concept, have been taken care of, the effect is restricted as the concept is underdeveloped in the first place. Whenever small details do a sneak peek into the screenplay to make things simpler, you're left with more questions and answers about the core plot. While the bat thing tries to open up a bit of the natural horror subgenre (pretty much what the wolf meant in the film Bhediya), their world, what were they doing until now, how do they want to enter into the human civilization, and most importantly, their genesis, is absolutely unclear. Whom you would feel bad for is Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who, apart from some funny one liners, has nothing much to do, when he was the one who could've shed some light into the origin of this bat powered betaals. The lending suggests that he would be cultivated in the upcoming films, but that doesn't mean he would do almost nothing in the film that begins it all! All of this combined, gives you a kind of mixed feeling about this entire packaging that Thamma is. The absence of a proper justification to the core plot adds much to the makers' horror as well, and I think, even the audience are at fault to a certain extent. People expected a Stree 2 out of Thamma and that's where expectations went overboard. This film wasn't meant to be as epic as it's immediate predecessor, and so, while the makers got their calculation right in making a street level film in this over the top genre, it's the audience and their expectations that killed the intentions. In fact, I felt like the trailer giving away Ayushmann Khurrana's transformation into a betaal was detrimental as well. Had the trailer been concise without much revelation, things could've been different.
Conclusion
Thamma is a good watch that's drawn down by it's own strengths. While cast performances, music, and technical departments have been the strong points, the restricted usage and development of the core concepts kept the audience longing for more. Expectations are high as this film overlaps a character (two characters actually) from one the previous films which surely generates interest, but if we talk about Thamma in particular, it's been an one time watch affair, which affect this film the most. The comic is fine but the horror portion relies significantly on the loud sound design accompanied by it, which after a point, loses credibility. The climax has a dramatic part to it, but that never really reaches the audience in it's full potential, as the cooking hasn't been great. The lack of a repeat value will take a toll on the business and it remains to be seen how far can this film survive without rewatch public.
Watch Out For
- Cast Performances
- Final scene where Nawaz is joined by another villain
- Music
WTF Rating
7/10