The genre of dark comedy remains one of the more innovative genres that has been embraced and explored by both Malayalam and Tamil films throughout Indian cinema over the last few years, while Bollywood has found some level of difficulty in achieving this dark humorous element. Bollywood has made many films recently where Judgemental Hai Kya attempts to do so through humour but with very little success. Conversely, Andhadhun and Blackmail, on the other hand, employed this type of humour successfully. Given Rajkummar Rao's entrance into the realm of creating dark comedies, one can therefore expect something highly innovative, fun, and thought provoking from him.

Storyline

This movie follows the life of Ramakant (Rajkummar Rao) an uber uptight individual who watches over every single rupee; his wife Shilpa (Sanya Malhotra) is bored to tears with their life together. Once Ramakant receives a toaster as an anniversary gift, their mundane lives take an unexpected direction of chaos. They'll become entangled with dead bodies, blackmail, stolen SIM cards, corrupt politicians, drug users and neighbors with ulterior motives. This dark comedy thriller simply couldn't hold the story together, leaving both momentum and excitement lost throughout.

Positive Points

The ensemble cast is the strongest part of this film. While both Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra do their best to bring their characters to life, other cast members like Seema Pahwa, Archana Puran Singh and Abhishek Banerjee have moments in their performances that rise above the group's very low bar.

Negative Points

Toaster fails entirely in its execution. The writing has no bite and the comedy is rarely funny. The scenes feel manufactured and drawn out, which adds to the slow pace of the film. The screenplay is disjointed, bouncing around from one ridiculous situation to another without any build up of tension or interest. The comedic elements of the film seem dated and repetitive in nature as well. Rao is not able to save the weak screenplay even with his strong screen presence. Several of the supporting characters are underutilized as well; including Farah Khan, who has only a brief role in the film.

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Verdict: In short, Toaster was a let down in terms of dark comedy. The screenplay was weak, paced poorly and did not provide any variety in humour. Because of this there was no real value from having a talented cast and so then became forgettable. The audience probably got more frustrated than entertained by Toaster.