Thamma movie review: Too little, too late

To bake horror and humour in a full-blown love story while introducing a new world that is malleable enough to blend into other worlds is a tall order even for a franchise as successful as the MHCU (Maddock Horror Comedy Universe). It’s no surprise then that Thamma falls short across fronts.

The vampire-werewolf rivalry that Maddock is trying to resuscitate was milked by the Twilight films to the last drop 13 years ago. Moreover, it’s the third vampire movie within this year alone and the least remarkable. After Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Dominic Arun’s Lokah Chapter One: Chandra, Thamma is too little too late.

Directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, who helmed the banner’s 2024 surprise hit Munjya, Thamma follows Alok (Ayushmann Khurrana), a silly, bumbling bloke from Delhi, as his life begins to take increasingly bizarre turns. After a camping trip with friends goes horribly wrong, he’s attacked by a bear in the thick of a forest that also happens to house an ancient tribe of betaals. The rest of the film is him getting repeatedly rescued by Tadaka (a solid Rashmika Mandanna), an alluring betaal who falls hopelessly in love with him until he turns into a betaal himself.

After ghosts, werewolves, robots and goblins, vampires are the newest addition to Maddock’s motley lot. If only they were half as fun as the rest.

The central thread of a nobody in one world undergoing an irrevocable life-altering transformation to become a formidable leader in another is very Avatar-esque. A secret community of betaals hiding in plain sight and not wanting to disturb their peaceful status quo with humans is reminiscent of Harry Potter. The idea of love conquering all was most recently sold by—you guessed it right—Brahmastra: Chapter One—Shiva.

Despite three writers (Niren Bhatt, Suresh Mathew, Arun Fulara) on board, Thamma feels like it lacks depth and is tonally inconsistent. With all the moolah that the other MHCU films (Stree, Bhediya, Munjya, Stree 2) have raked in, it’s also overblown and somehow still manages to look sketchy.

It’s telling when cameos and side characters get the film's loudest cheers that the leading man hasn’t been given much to do. After a noticeable two-year hiatus, Ayushmann Khurrana returns with a 150-minute film where he doesn’t have one memorable scene.

However, that does not take away from the fact that Thamma has turned out to be Khurrana's biggest ever opener at ₹25.11 crore. Before this, Raaj Shaandilyaa’s 2023 comedy-drama Dream Girl 2 had recorded the highest first-day box office at ₹10.69 crore.

No matter the frills, every movie needs to be able to stand firm on its own. Especially if it's an origin story, a solid foundation is all the more mandatory. Franchise filmmaking is a double-edged sword. Each instalment has to be fascinating, enticing enough to make the viewers want more.

But instead of building on its juiciest bits, like Yakshashan (a half-decent, full-hammy Nawazuddin Siddiqui) for instance, Thamma keeps blowing up the banal, like Alok’s one-note father played by Paresh Rawal. Sathyaraj’s occultist from Munjya shows up here, too, but only ends up being yet another character with little impact in an already crowded film. The climax—which could have been glorious, unforgettable—is reduced to a rushed wrapping up. One scream, a few blows, and lo, a superhero is born.

With content from across the world available at people's fingertips, it will take more than Nora Fatehi, Malaika Arora, Diwali and Halloween for audiences to show up