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prYash’s much-awaited Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups has finally arrived in theatres on August 26, marking the actor’s first big-screen release since
KGF: Chapter 2. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, the gangster action drama features a star-studded cast including Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth and Huma Qureshi. Made on a reported budget of around Rs 500 crore, the film reached theatres after multiple delays. As fans turned up for first-day-first-show screenings, early reactions began surfacing on social media. While several viewers praised Yash’s screen presence, stylish appearance and action sequences, others criticised the film’s writing, pacing and execution.
Toxic X Review: Fans Hail Yash’s Screen Presence BUT Call Film A ‘Colossal Waste’ With Heavy 'KGF Hangover"
Yash’s return to the big screen has emerged as one of the biggest talking points among early viewers who watched Toxic.
One viewer called Toxic a technically sound film that is let down by chaotic writing and tiring execution. The user criticised the lack of proper character introductions, unclear plot, confusing screenplay, weak dialogues and poor editing. The X user also felt that Ravi Basrur’s background score did little to improve the experience. The user praised, Yash’s role, a few individual scenes and the climax were among the film’s only positives. They rated the film 1.5/5 and described it as a difficult watch.
Another X user also criticised the film, praising only Yash’s stylish appearance, the stunt sequences and rich visuals. They film buff mentioned its three-hour runtime, characterisation, adult scenes, random sequences, dialogues and lack of emotional connect, while calling Geetu Mohandas’ direction boring.
Another analyst described Toxic as a colossal mess, mentioning that the film seemed to take the idea of a toxic and problematic protagonist to an extreme. They suggested that the film was so repulsive that audiences might think twice before watching another story centred on a similar anti-hero.
No One Like You: Fans Praise Yash
Several fans praised Yash’s performance in Toxic, particularly his screen presence and action sequences. One viewer described the first half as decent, mentioning about Yash’s performance, introduction, action scenes and interval sequence, while mentioning that the story progresses slowly. Another fan hailed Yash’s act during the film’s funeral fight sequence, saying that no one in India can match him in terms of screen presence.
A third user went further, describing Yash’s entry in Toxic as one of the best introductions for a lead actor in the history of Indian cinema.
Toxic Gets Strong Start Despite Mixed Reactions
Despite the divided early word of mouth, Toxic has recorded strong commercial momentum through its advance bookings. According to Sacnilk, the film had registered an India Day 1 advance booking gross of Rs 64.85 crore, including block seats, as of 6 am on August 26.
