Maddock Films’ Thamma (UA) is a love story of an ordinary young man and a demon (betaal).
Alok (Ayushmann Khurrana) is an ordinary young man who goes on an expedition to the jungles with his friends (Deepak Kalra and Hrithika Kanwar). When a ferocious animal attacks him, his life is saved by a beautiful girl, Tadaka (Rashmika Mandana). The two come to the city after a few days, but Alok realises that Tadaka is a demon (betaal). However, Alok and Tadaka have fallen in love with one another by the time Alok gets to know about her identity. Anyway, Alok meets with an accident one day and dies. To bring him alive again, Tadaka bites him but by doing so, she converts Alok into a demon (betaal). What happens thereafter?
Niren Bhatt, Suresh Matthew and Arun Fulara have written an unusual story which keeps the audience involved right from the word ‘go’. The uniqueness of the story is its biggest plus point. The trio’s screenplay is very entertaining. The first half abounds in light moments and comedy, which keep the viewers in good spirits. There are many scenes in which the audience laugh their hearts out. The drama takes a slightly serious turn after interval, but the humorous angle is not completely sacrificed even post-interval. The romantic track and the extent to which Alok is willing to go to save the love of his life are very heartwarming. The angle of Alok’s father giving him the inspiration and encouragement to go ahead makes the second half even more wholesome. In that sense, the drama has comedy, emotions, romance, drama and even melodrama and action, making the film a complete entertainer. The dialogues, written by Niren Bhatt, Suresh Matthew and Arun Fulara, with additional dialogues by Chirayu Mistri, are extraordinary. There are many dialogues which will evoke not just laughter but also claps for their sheer brilliance.
Ayushmann Khurrana shines as Alok. He is so natural and extraordinary that it would seem, he was born to play this role. He endears himself to the public in the first few minutes itself. Rashmika Mandana looks bewitching and delivers a lovely performance as Tadaka. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is terrific as Yakshasan. In the first half, he evokes laughter in every single scene he appears in. Paresh Rawal is mindblowing in the role of Alok’s father. His acting is as natural as natural can be. Geeta Aggarwal Sharma lends tremendous support as Alok’s mother. Faisal Malik stands his own as police officer Yadav. Deepak Kalra leaves a fine mark as Alok’s friend. His comic sense of timing is very good. Hrithika Kanwar is nice as Alok’s friend. Rachit Singh (as Veeran) and Raj Premi (as Raktaksh) make their marks. Ankit Mohan (as Jimmy) leaves a good mark. Ankit Kaushik, Pritesh Singh and Raju Patel are quite nice as Jimmy’s friends. In special appearances, Sathyaraj, Varun Dhawan, Abhishek Banerjee, Nora Fatehi and Malaika Arora impress a great deal. Varun Dhawan adds tremendous star value as Bhaskar (of Bhediya). Abhishek Banerjee’s comedy is very enjoyable; he plays Jana (of Stree and Stree 2). Sathyaraj has his moments; his acting is very good. Malaika Arora and Nore Fatehi dance sexily and sensually in the ‘Poison baby’ and Dilbar songs respectively. Others provide fine support.
Aditya Sarpotdar’s direction is excellent. He has narrated a difficult story with so much clairty that he deserves all the praise for a job beautifully done. Sachin-Jigar’s music is hit. Rahe na rahe hum is supremely melodious and will grow a great deal on the public. Dilbar and ‘Poison baby’ are fast-paced numbers. Tum mere na huye is also a very good song. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are in complete synch with the mood of the film. Song picturisations (Dilbar by Vijay A. Ganguly; ‘Poison baby’ by Shekar Master; Tum mere na huye by Jaani Master; Rahe na rahe hum by Ranju Varghese) are excellent. Sachin-Jigar’s background music is fantastic. Saurabh Goswami’s cinematography is superb. Action scenes have been very well choreographed by Parvez Shaikh and Jasper Grant Hulley. Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production designing, and Dilip Ganpati Rokade’s art direction are excellent. Hemanti Sarkar’s editing is super-sharp.
On the whole, Thamma is a hit, no questions asked. Its positive word of mouth will see collections grow.
Released on 21-10-’25 at Inox (daily 14 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Maddock Films. Publicity: excellent. Opening: quite good. …….Also released all over. Opening was average at places and good/very good at others.