The comparison between Toxic and Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar: The Revenge started when both films were slated to release on the same date in March. The makers of the Yash-starrer later postponed the film, and it eventually hit theatres last week. However, despite the date shift, comparisons between the two films haven’t stopped.
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma recently took to X to compare both films. Though he didn’t name Toxic, his long comment appears to hint at the Yash-starrer. RGV began his post by praising Dhurandhar and saying that every filmmaker should learn from the film how to create characters who seem very real. He took the example of his own film Satya, and how even the side characters in the film look as real as anyone else, adding that Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar took this to another level.
‘Slow motion shots lasts longer than the characters inner lives’
He pointed out how, in Dhurandhar, the lead actor is not worshipped. In fact, he is shown waiting tables, listening instead of speaking, miscalculating, getting dirty and appearing smaller in front of even smaller characters. The director pointed out how Aditya Dhar has given equal, if not more, importance to other characters in the film than the hero. This, he said, provides gravitas to the narrative.
“They feel like people who would still be there whether the hero was there or not . You are not waiting for the next elevation shot. You are staying because the people on screen make you stay by becoming immersive.” he wrote.
Without naming Toxic, RGV wrote how other films are made in service of the lead star. He wrote, “The other films swagger. Have fog and slow motion that lasts longer than the characters inner lives. The women are not people.. they are functions arranged around the same gravitational centre so that the centre never has to become a living real person. You cannot tell what any of them are when he is not in the shot.”
‘Violence is just a spectacle minus context’
He added, “Violence in Dhurandhar has a before and an after. Somebody pays. Somebody changes. Somebody is left standing feeling smaller. In the other films, violence is just a spectacle minus context . Attitude is the plot. Style arrives first and then searches for a reason. The camera does not observe, it advertises. Editing does not cut time, it manufactures fake intensity that was never in the writing. Characters do not act because they must. They act because the poster needed a dynamic still.”
RGV pointed out how, in other films, the audience is eluded from knowing the lead character as a human being. He wrote, “Satya’s gangsters could have existed on a real Mumbai street. Dhurandhar’s Lyari men feel like they have already lived for many years before the hero came there. The other films heroes feel assembled in a look test. You leave knowing the hero’s hair, the hero’s walk, the hero’s catchphrase. You do not leave knowing a single thing about him as a human being.”
About Toxic
Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic were supposed to clash at the box office in March. The Yash-starrer was postponed, and the makers stated that they were delaying the film due to the West Asian conflict, which was affecting releases in the Middle East. The film was released on Wednesday and minted ₹285 crore in worldwide collections within five days of release.
The film is directed by Geetu Mohandas and also stars Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth.