Toaster REVIEW: Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra’s ‘Toast’ Is Hot But Not Crispy Enough

Film:
Toaster

Director: Vivek Daschaudhary

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, Archana Puran Singh, Abhishek Banerjee, Jitendra Joshi, Upendra Limaye

Platform: Netflix

Runtime: 120 minutes (2 hours)

Toaster Review

Netflix movie Toaster has finally released and will surely make you chuckle from time to time with its funny, relatable and throwback one-lines. The brainrot comedy is centred on the life of miser Ramakant (Rajkummar Rao) – a perfume store owner who would rather gift a tester in a big box as a wedding present and eat at his neighbours house to save some money. He’s married to Shilpa (Sanya Malhotra) – a black-belt Judo artist who loves him despite his many quirks. The duo live a quaint society in Mumbai surrounded by the elderly.

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Fed up with Ramaakant’s stinginess, Shilpa forces him to purchased an expensive toaster for her Guru Ji’s daughter’s wedding. While the wedding is called off abruptly, the ever kanjoos Ramaakant appears on their doorstep the very next day to ask for his toaster back (in hopes to return it and get his money back), only to be told it’s been donated. As he searches for the toaster, the small electrical appliance turns into something that can change not 1 or 2 but several lives. And even claiming a couple along the way.

But what secrets does the toaster hold? Why is Inspector Balagode (Upendra Limaye) also hellbent on getting his hands on the toaster? To know the answers, one needs to watch the film on Netflix. But is the dark comedy worth spending 2 hours of your weekend watching? Read our review before you make a decision.

What Works

The clever one-liners, its wit and absurdity are some of the reasons you may like this film.

What Doesn’t Work

The acting – while interesting, feels more like overacting even for a brain rot. The pace falters, making the toast loose it crispiness and taste like a stale, soggy slice of bread.

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Technical Analysis

Story & Scriptwriting

Toaster has a fairly straightforward choices screenplay – a stingy, middleclass man going to extreme limits to save some money and getting stuck in situations that progress from bad to worst. The narrative is predictable right from Ramaakanth’s attempt to get hold of the toaster to Shilpa finding things fishing from the very first death.

The story – thought fresh, lacks ingenuity and feels done and dusted. The one-liners – thoughts laughable, don’t add meaning to the plot, they only highlight Ramakant’s stinginess. Some moments stand out, but that’s not enough.

Direction

Vivek Daschaudhary has done a mediocre job in bringing Toaster to life. The concept had scope – especially paired with the acting of Rajkummar Rao and Archana Puran Singh (Upendra Limaye, Abhishek Banarjee, and Sanya Malhotra, too) – but the director fails to make the final product a brain rot fans would want to watch more than once.

Music

It’s there, but it doesn’t do anything for the story, its characters or even entertaining the audience. Average.

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Star Cast

Rajkummar Rao is the heart of the film and that’s clearly visible in how the story moves forward. The actor – who also turns producer with this dark comedy, has pretty much carried the entire film; however, his character doesn’t impress or have the effect the makers desired. Sanya Malhotra as Shilpa is okay, given that her role isn’t actually that meaty.

Archana Puran Singh – who has a meaty character, is refreshing to watch; however, you may fail to recognise her the first time she appears on screen. Archana playing the character will remain in your mind more than her character. Upendra Limaye is unmissable. He commands the screen every time he appears.

Abhishek Banerjee is dependable as ever and makes sure his fans laugh. Seema Pahwa is a perfect fit for the narrative, adding her own flavour to the madness. The cameos – Patralekha, Farah Khan and Pratik Gandhi, all add dept and craziness to the script, but in tiny doses only.

Conclusion

You can watch it once, but that’s it. You will loose interest but still chuckle on an off like when an high Abhishek Banerjee fails to recognise a burqa-clad Rajkummar or when Ramaakanth gives a eulogy. If you have time to waste, watch Toaster, else skip it.

Watch the trailer of Toaster here:

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Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.