Thamma Movie Review: The Ultimate Diwali Entertainer From Maddock Verse

Director: Aditya Sarpotdar

Writers: Niren Bhatt, Suresh Mathew, Arun Falara

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Paresh Rawal, Sathyaraj, Fasial Malik, Geeta Aggarwal, Rachit Singh

Duration: 149 minutes

Rating: 4

Taking the franchise forward, Maddock ventures into unchartered territory of mystical creatures, and manage to create an epic and worthy crossover yet original franchise movie, which not only stands tall with it original story but lay groundwork with its predecessors and future endeavours. This epic saga has everything going for itself, it is fun, wild, original, unique, relatable and above all packed with stellar acting, outstanding VFX, smashing numbers, something we have never seen before on big screen!

The film kick-offs in ancient times where dark and dense forests are protected by mythical beings called Betaals, their sole purpose to protect human-race, There is one cardinal rule, no one ever harm a human, and one fine day is cardinal rule is broken which leads to generational chaos.

And then the story is ushered into modern time where Ayushmann Khurrana as Alok, a reporter on the look-out for one major scoop to take his career forwards, ends up encountering a bear in wild. A life ending situation leads Alok to find Tadaka, played by Rashmika Mandanna. She is nothing like anyone we have ever seen on silver-screen, she is powerful, fearless, and knows the delicate balance of nature, and humans. Smitten by Tadaka, Alok drags her to city, and this opens up whole pandora of trouble, awkward comic moments and whole lot more.

Alok is a goof ball, he is constant chatter box, while Tadaka grounded, but their chemistry is like fire-work, its instant, organic and refreshing to watch on silver-screen.

First half is spend establishing narrative, characters and situations, and then comes the second half which is even bigger, better, fast paced and engaging. The film launches into supersonic mode, soon dramatic plot unfolds, which leads to fantastical chaos of powerful beings, and movie is firing on all the

cylinders, despite being fast paced narrative, everything makes sense, nothing is out of place, everything has a meaning, serving a purpose, taking the narrative forward. There are epic moments in the second half which will blow audience minds, the showstopping fight between Ayushmann's character Alok and Bhediya himself (Varun Dhawan). The VFX and choreography of massive face-off is outstanding.

If this wasn't enough to woo the audience, there is one more face-off between Bhediya and Thamma, which is even bigger and better, filled by powerful beings going toe to toe. And if this wasn't enough, there is more coming. The mega villain of Stree, Sar Kata also making a sneaky comeback. The film is a perfect goosebumps experience. It's also a giveaway that all these movies are setting up to become part of one big, shared universe. Thamma is just a tasting, there is more coming, much more.

Apart from visual spectacle, the film also offers amazing performances by entire ensemble. Veteran Paresh Rawal is a comedy scene-stealer as he plays Ayushmann's grumpy yet clever dad with just the right mix of wit and sarcasm.

Veteran actor Sathyaraj is also back as (Hand Of God) Mr Elvis, the quirky supernatural authority. He's more than a comedic relief role, he is the pivotal point where tow mega franchise make a cross-over.

And then there is ever so gorgeous Nora Fatehi, and trust us, she is more than just dancer. Her character contributes significantly to the narrative and is directly connected to the original story which started it all, Stree. Surprise!!

Apart from the stellar BGM, the album is a banger, it's not loud numbers but serving a bigger purpose. There are no random dance-number-in-the-middle-of-the-woods nonsense, the songs are verry specific, even a dance routine is also a hint to the origin of Betaal and Rakhtbeej story.

Thamma is a smart, intelligent, emotional charged, humorous, and ridiculously entertaining, something we have never seen before, an epic saga offering something to everyone. It's a prefect family viewing. It offers exceptional performances, clever writing, special effects, music, a complete entertainment package.