There is something about Rajkummar Rao’s comic timing — subtle or not — that always hits home. In Ludo, we saw it in the undying love that his ’80s-styled character had for Mithunda — displayed via moves, mohawk and the breathless rattling of the menu at the eatery he served in as a waiter. In one of his earlier films, Talaash, where he played the supporting role of a cop, his character’s dilemma to stay or leave, while in the background, when his boss, played by Aamir Khan, engages in a shouting match with his wife (Rani Mukerji) in a public space, proved to be a masterclass in understated lightness in a scene that was otherwise exceptionally intense. In Stree 2, a franchise that has given him immense opportunity to flaunt his comedic chops, the scene where his Vicky desperately mimics Jana’s (Abhishek Banerjee) mother in wholly unintelligible phrases just to drown out her grating voice, is meme gold.
It is, therefore, no coincidence that one of the best scenes in Toaster — Rao’s latest comedy escapade — involves his character, Ramakant, and Glen, played by Abhishek Banerjee. Glen, who is perpetually stoned, mistakes Ramakant for his dead mother, and Ramakant — a miser who sneaks into Glen’s house on a desperate mission — isn’t hesitant to play along. The scene ends quicker than it should have — some push, pull and an unfortunate fall is involved — but it sets the tone for Toaster. Or rather, the film it had the potential to be.
Toaster — that marks the debut production of Rao’s KAMPA Films, in partnership with his actor-wife Patralekhaa, and is streaming on Netflix — is a charming, if somewhat exaggerated comedy, that squarely rides on its leading man’s shoulders, featuring him in almost every scene. Ramakant is a penny-pincher in ways unimaginable — he fights over a ₹6 refund on his phone bill, lands up at his elderly neighbour’s home every morning to save breakfast money and takes his wife (Shilpa, played by Sanya Malhotra) to a free community kitchen for an anniversary “lunch date”.
When a desperate Shilpa insists on buying an expensive toaster to gift at a wedding, Ramakant is beside himself. He reluctantly gives in, but as fate would have it, the marriage is annulled the next day. Which sets off Ramakant on a do-or-die mission to get back the toaster and return it for a refund. But a wily politician with a dirty secret, a corrupt cop and an elderly woman with a penchant for handcuffed chairs and feather boas in what is her own version of the “Red Room of Pain”, become hurdles in Ramakant’s quest to acquire the toaster. Soon enough, the lies start piling up, and so does the body count.
Directed by debutant Vivek Daschaudhary out of a script written by Parveez Shaikh, Anagh Mukherjee and Akshat Ghildial, there are some laughs to be had in Toaster. The humour is quirky, the lines more chuckle-worthy than not and Rajkummar’s expressive face is the perfect canvas to play out the increasingly quagmirish circumstances he finds himself being pulled into. At a time when we could do with some lightheartedness — on screen and otherwise — Toaster gets the menu. But the middle section of the film — especially with the darkly comic situation involving Ramakant and Malini, played by an initially unrecognisable Archana Puran Singh — gets stretched interminably, without ample returns. The laughs dry up, with the humour playing out on a loop.
What would have instead worked for Toaster is more emphasis on Ramakant’s quirks as a cheapskate and greater focus on Shilpa, whose character development is reduced to her being a fan of crime shows and an expert at judo. It is, however, to Sanya’s credit that she imbues the character with enough meat and movement that makes you wish Toaster had more of Shilpa, and of the genuinely warm relationship that exists between her and Ramakant, despite its idiosyncrasies.
Still, Toaster makes for a sincere first-time effort. You won’t remember much of it by the time the end credits roll, but the good times will keep rolling as long as the madness plays out on screen.
Priyanka Roy
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