Let me hazard a guess at how the first meeting for The Vvaan went: “Indian culture, a Goddess, Chhath Puja. Mytho-horror-comedy is having a moment, why not throw all three into one film?”
But the second half nosedives. Editor Nitin Baid’s choppy editing does little to hold the film together. For instance, Maniesh Paul’s character is clearly meant to provide comic relief, but his running gag of mistaking an old woman for a witch is stretched far beyond its shelf life. Worse, it keeps resurfacing even as the story tries to build tension. The sequences themselves aren’t particularly funny either. It is largely Paul’s comic timing that lends them some decency. He gets some of the film’s funniest one-liners, so Anandeshwar Dwivedi’s dialogue also works. The climax of The Vvaan is loud without being engaging. By this point, the film loses its grip on the story, delving into backstories and introducing explanations that raise more questions than they answer. Also, the inclusion of too many songs merely acts as a loo break more than helping the film’s plot in any way. The film’s VFX are average. Among the performances, Sidharth Malhotra is watchable, though the role feels familiar. He is essentially playing another version of the city-bred man he has portrayed in films such as Thank God, so little here feels new. Tamannaah, on the other hand, lends the film its emotional core and channels her character’s longing to become a mother. Anuup Soni and Shweta Tiwari are well cast and bring credibility to their parts. Pitting Sunil Grover as the antagonist is a smart casting choice. The music by Vishal Mishra, Amit Trivedi, Tanishk Bagchi and Sam C.S. is nothing remarkable.
The verdict
Overall, there was genuine potential in making a fantasy horror around a Goddess and the Chhath Puja. It could have given The Vvaan an identity of its own, rooted in a mythology that feels distinctly Indian. Instead, the film gets distracted by everything around its central idea. By the end, the Goddess, the folklore, and everything seem to be fighting for space with the comedy and songs. For a film that had such an interesting divine premise, The Vvaan eventually does surprisingly little with it.
