Toaster Review: Rajkummar Rao Can't Save This Unfunny Comedy

Toaster is neither a laugh-out-loud comedy nor the kind of satire you would expect from a premise like this, notes Mayur Sanap.

Toaster is a one-trick comedy.

That trick is the leading man Rajkummar Rao himself.

Rao is usually a dependable performer, especially with his peculiar comic energy that has worked well in the past. Sadly, in Toaster, that routine feels like it has run its course.

The boyish charm that once felt natural now seems rehearsed, the physical quirks feel recycled, and the whole act feels stuck on repeat.

You could blame the weak material here, but Rao himself comes across tired, delivering lousy gags with hardly any punch. The title card has a playful touch, introducing Rao as 'In and With...Toaster.' It remains one of the very few moments where the film embraces its cheekiness.

The problem with Toaster is that it's neither a laugh-out-loud comedy nor the kind of satire you would expect from a premise like this. It soon becomes obvious the film is dragging a thin joke beyond its limits.

What's Toaster About?

The entire plot hinges on a missing toaster. On paper, it sounds like a setup for chaotic comedy.

You expect something like Kathal, the deliciously quirky comedy about missing jackfruits, but instead you get the same unabashed silliness of Rao's earlier Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, laced with humour that feels lightweight and disposable, like those cheesy Adam Sandler comedies.

Rao plays an ordinary Joe named Ramakant Parikh.

This is a man who treats frugality like a competitive sport. He piles up two full plates at a wedding, just to vasool the gift.

He is someone who, when his wife (a likeable Sanya Malhotra) says it might snow in Mumbai, both blames and thanks climate change because at least he can save on electricity bills.

When she asks him about having kids, he immediately rebuffs her by calling children a 'lifetime investment with zero return'.

Toaster would have worked better if the protagonist was even slightly interesting.

Absurd comedies can work well with oddball leads, take Vir Das' bumbling spy in Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos, for example. But Ramakant's quirks feel forced rather than believable character traits, making him more annoying than endearing.

The plot kicks off with a small incident. Ramakant gifts a Rs 5,000 toaster at a wedding. When he learns that the wedding is called off, he becomes obsessed with getting the toaster back.

The film throws in frisky characters: A crime show-loving wife (Malhotra), a nosy neighbour (Archana Puran Singh), a shady neta (Jitendra Joshi), and a pressed-on Marathi-speaking cop (Upendra Limaye). They all chase the missing toaster as things escalate to mayhem and murder.

Each character is given little quirks, and they do get some time to play out. But the humour soon becomes sparse.

The core problem with Toaster is that the concept never really takes off.

The setup feels familiar, much like the Kunal Kemmu-starrer Lootcase, where a chaos is triggered by a suspicious object. But where that film had momentum and wit, this one struggles to stay afloat.

The occasional jokes or misunderstandings are easy to predict, and the pace slows down a lot. The film also keeps adding random characters into random situations just to fill space. As a result, the film feels like it never gets going.

Sanya Malhotra Shines

The writers' squad -- Parveez Shaikh, Akshat Ghildial, Anagh Mukerjee -- leans on tiresome jokes and predictable beats, and debutant Director Vivek Daschaudary struggles to inject life into the script.

That's a shame, because the film is packed with likeable actors.

Sanya Malhotra, as always, remains watchable. Even with a sketchily written role limited to squabbling and grumbling interactions with her husband, she manages to bring some spark. You wish the film gave her more to do.

Abhishek Banerjee appears in an extended cameo as a shady blackmailer while Seema Pahwa plays a landlord lady D'Souza Aunty, who is obsessed with her bowel movements much like Bhaskor Banerjee from Piku.

Why Toaster doesn't work

You expect LOL moments from such an ensemble, but that never happens. Instead, the actors are left with some mildly amusing gags.

The runtime also works against the film, with the plot stretching, energy dipping, and humour fading.

Toaster manages just two chuckle-worthy moments: One a sharp nepotism jibe by Rao, and the other is driven by Farah Khan's guest appearance, which feels in spirit of her YouTube sketches.

For a story about a missing toaster, you expect some tension or a fun twist, but the stretched climax unfolds with such dull energy that it only makes you roll your eyes.

What follows is a shabbily written 'lesson learned' moment for the protagonist that feels both forced and unearned.

By the end, this Toaster yields the result of a burnt toast. It is best left untouched.

Toaster streams on Netflix.