The villagers said don’t enter the dark woods after sunset. Honestly, we should have listened to them! Read our review of Sidharth Malhotra-Tamannaah Bhatia starrer The Vvaan.
Quick Vibes
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Vibes: Lackluster
Film Credits
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sunil Grover, Maniesh Paul, Shweta Tiwari, Anup Soni, Sulbha Arya, Milind Gunaji
Director: Deepak Kumar Mishra
Writers: Arunabh Kumar, Anandeshwar Dwivedi (dialogues)
Story
Rishi (Sidharth Malhotra), a Mumbai-based engineer, opens the film by casually saving his job site from a structural failure. We soon learn that he is happily married to Mamta (Tamannaah Bhatia), a schoolteacher whose occupation is firmly established through a classroom scene featuring the ultimate Indian academic staple, a Navneet book.
Beneath their routine lives, the couple quietly carries the heartbreak of trying to conceive without success after a traumatic incident that occurred in Rishi’s hometown, Devanchal, six years ago. Their best hope is an expensive IVF treatment, but the steep cost leaves Rishi anxiously waiting for a loan approval that never seems to come through.
Rishi’s brother Shashi (Anup Soni) keeps urging him to return to Devanchal for Chhath Puja, but Rishi refuses, unwilling to face the ghosts of his past. When Shashi proposes selling their inherited ancestral land, Rishi finally sees a silver lining. He agrees to the trip, hoping to settle the land deal and ease his financial troubles.
As soon as they arrive in Devanchal, the locals warn them about an ancient rule: no one should enter the nearby forest after sunset. Our hero, armed with logic and stubborn confidence, dismisses the warnings as mere superstition. When a villager’s bull wanders into the forbidden forest, Rishi ignores the obvious danger and steps inside. What he discovers there shatters everything his rational mind once believed.
What’s Yay
The mythology bits pique your interest.
What’s Nay
The screenplay tries to juggle too much at once and ends up losing its grip.
Writing And Direction
The pairing of Ektaa Kapoor and TVF sounds like something dreamt up in a feverish writers’ room. On one side you have Ektaa, the queen of loud supernatural drama. On the other, there’s TVF, known for its grounded gems like Panchayat and Gullak. On paper, this clash of styles could have created a fascinating mix, blending sharp slice‑of‑life storytelling with big, bold folklore. Instead it fizzles out.
Rather than letting each side play to its strengths, Deepak Kumar Mishra’s The Vvaan feels like an awkward tug of war. There’s neither the spectacle nor the subtle charm. It somewhere ends up stuck in the middle, missing the chance to deliver something truly fresh.
The visuals do not help either. Devanchal looks more like a studio set than a real village, stripping away any sense of authenticity. The forest that is meant to terrify barely raises a pulse. Instead of catching you off guard, the twists walk in through the front door, exactly when you expect them. Also, the product placements in the film are so loud and obvious that they yank you right out of the moment.
Maniesh Paul and Sulbha Arya are brought in to lighten the mood, but their entire act revolves around mistaking an old woman for a witch. The gag drags on until it stops being funny and turns into a chore. By the time the climax arrives, the film has drained its own potential, leaving behind a messy finale that struggles to hold your attention.
Performances
Sidharth Malhotra‘s dance moves are sharper than ever and the physical side of his role looks good. Where he falters is in the heavier emotional moments. When the script asks him to dig deep and show raw conflict, the performance loses its edge. The subtle layers slip away and the drama feels flatter than it should. He shines in the heroics, but the inner turmoil never fully connects.
Tamannaah Bhatia does everything she can with her role. She carries herself with grace and presence, but the writing keeps her locked in a safe, predictable space. Her character feels too basic, leaving her little chance to stretch or surprise.
Sunil Grover’s performance feels like slipping into a well-worn jacket. He knows exactly how to play his part and does it with ease. Maniesh Paul squeezes every drop of fun out of his screen time. He throws himself into Anandeshwar Dwivedi’s dialogues with full enthusiasm, and sells each line like it matters. His delivery brings in laughs even when the funny writing feels thin after a point.
Anup Soni, Shweta Tiwari, and Milind Gunaji do a decent job with the brief moments they get, though you are left wishing the film gave them something far meatier to do.
Tech Check
On the technical side, The Vvaan never really rises above average. Manu Anand’s cinematography feels routine. He sticks to safe frames that miss the eerie mood the story needs. The visual effects do not add much either, with CGI that never comes close to creating real chills and thrills. Nitin Baid’s editing isn’t memorable too. The craft does its job at a basic level but never manages to lift the material into something memorable.
Music
The Vvaan is bloated with forgettable tracks that serve no purpose other than inflating the total runtime. The sole bright spot in the entire album is the devotional ‘Chhathi Maiyya’ song, which briefly brings some cultural flavor to the screen. Beyond that, it is a total blank. Even the heavily hyped dance number ‘Thammak Thammak’ falls completely flat on its face despite Tamannaah’s energetic thumkas.
The Final Shot
Think of The Vvaan as an awkward road trip where TVF and Ektaa Kapoor aggressively argue over the aux cord for over two hours. Armed with uneven writing, unnecessary songs, and zero real tension, this supernatural thriller is better off left stranded in the forbidden woods.
