Archive · 27 Aug 2026
Toxic Review Questions Female Pleasure Behind Its Gangster Story
Toxic is a film about a violent gangster named Raya, played by Yash.
It follows him through crime, love and painful memories from childhood.
Several important actresses appear in the film, but the review says their characters mostly help explain Raya’s problems.
Raya’s mother killed his father, and Raya later kills his mother after learning she exploited his sister.
His sister Ganga helps raise him and pushes him to become powerful.
Raya eventually meets his son, Ticket, and their relationship helps drive the ending.
The film includes sex, casinos, drugs and violence, as many gangster stories do.
Its director spoke about female pleasure and consent, but the reviewer believes the movie mostly shows familiar sexual imagery.
The review concludes that Toxic promises a bold discussion of women but focuses more on Raya’s “daddy issues.”
Toxic is a pan-India gangster film written and shot in Kannada and English, directed by Geethu Mohandas and led by Yash.
The film features Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Huma Qureshi and Rukmini Vasanth in prominent female roles.
The review argues that the women mainly serve Raya’s trauma, guilt, ambition and existential crisis rather than having fully developed arcs.
Raya’s violent life is shaped by childhood trauma, including his mother’s death, his sister Ganga’s influence and the absence of a father figure.
The review questions the film’s marketing and discussion of female pleasure, saying its intimate scenes offer little beyond familiar gangster-film titillation.
- Who
- Director Geethu Mohandas, actor Yash as gangster Raya, and co-stars Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Huma Qureshi and Rukmini Vasanth.
- What
- Toxic is a pan-India gangster film whose treatment of female characters, intimacy and female pleasure is criticized in the article.
- When
- The article discusses the completed film and refers to controversy surrounding its earlier teaser; no specific date is provided.
- Where
- The film was written and shot in Kannada and English for a pan-India audience.
- Why
- The review says the female characters are used mainly to deepen Raya’s generational trauma, guilt and existential crisis, despite the director’s public reference to female pleasure and consent.
Director’s Stated Ambition
Reviewer’s Assessment
Female pleasure and consent
Director’s Stated Ambition
Geethu Mohandas responded to online trolls by referring to female pleasure, consent and women playing systems as ideas connected to the film.
Reviewer’s Assessment
The review argues that female pleasure is not equivalent to sexual titillation and says the film does not meaningfully develop that promise.
Sexual imagery
Director’s Stated Ambition
The teaser’s sexual imagery, including a rough-sex scene in a car at a cemetery, was presented as part of the film’s provocative imagination; filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma called Mohandas an ultimate symbol of women empowerment for imagining it.
Reviewer’s Assessment
The review says the film’s intimate scenes are familiar, neither especially bold nor aesthetic, and mainly function as standard gangster-film spectacle.
Female characters
Director’s Stated Ambition
The film brings together five prominent female actors and presents women as influential figures in Raya’s life, including his sister Ganga and his romantic partners.
Reviewer’s Assessment
The reviewer says the women are primarily woven into Raya’s generational trauma, guilty conscience and existential crisis rather than given independent narrative importance.
- Film
- Toxic
- Director
- Geethu Mohandas
- Lead actor
- Yash, who plays the gangster Raya
- Languages
- Kannada and English
- Genre described
- Gangster drama involving violence, power, lust, crime and family trauma
- Featured actresses
- Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Huma Qureshi and Rukmini Vasanth
- Central criticism
- The review says the film raises expectations about female pleasure but primarily serves Raya’s trauma and hypermasculine gangster narrative