Toaster review: Hazariprasad ka bhi baap

With its miserly narrative, actor Rajkummar Rao and his co-producer wife Patralekhaa deliver a hilariously generous black comedy.

Rating: (3 / 5)

By Mayur Lookhar

During #NextonNetflix 2025, the only film that looked promising was Toaster. It, however, did not release last year, triggering fears about its future. It has taken a while, but it has been worth the wait. Toaster (2026) marks the maiden foray in production for Rajkummar Rao and his wife, Patralekhaa. It’s also a maiden feature for director Vivek Daschaudary.

The black comedy tells the ordeal of a miserly man. Dive into history, and you’ll learn how the first such character in Indian cinema was explored in P. Pullaiah’s Tamil film Vijayalakshmi (1946), where B. R. Panthulu played the extremely miserly and greedy Ganesh Iyer. The Tamil film was loosely inspired by Marathi play Bandaachi Soon.

In Hindi cinema, though, the most memorable miserly character was that of Hazariprasad (played by Anupam Kher) in Indra Kumar’s 1990s blockbuster Dil. Here was a man so stingy that he happily swallowed a fly that dropped into his tea, justifying his kanjoos makkhichoos image. Kanjoos makhichoos is a Hindi/Urdu expression used to describe an extremely miserly person. Obsessed with money, the junk dealer tried tricking a wealthy man into marrying his daughter off to his son.

Story

In Toaster, though, Ramakant (Rajkummar Rao) is not up to such tricks. However, when it comes to being kanjoos makkhichoos, he comfortably beats Hazariprasad by a distance. Right from his opening scene, where he heckles a customer‑support executive over charging Rs6 extra on his wife’s phone bill, Ramakant’s stinginess knows no bounds

Ramakant owns a small perfume shop in a Mumbai mall, selling duplicate items of Dubai brands. His wife, Shilpa (Sanya Malhotra), has asked him to buy a good wedding gift for her guruji’s daughter’s wedding. Our man has packed a big box, but it contains a 100‑ml tester perfume. Upset, Shilpa tears it open and buys a Rs4,999 toaster. Ramakant moans about how this could be available for Rs1,200 in a local market. Having spent nearly Rs5,000, Ramakant is determined to have a wholesome feast at the wedding, even shamelessly carrying some of the food in a plastic bag. The next day, he is stunned to learn that the wedding is called off after the groom’s pregnant girlfriend showed up. In the garb of condoling the family, Ramakant shamelessly demands that, now that the wedding is called off, the family should return the toaster.

Shunned by guruji, Ramakant learns that the family had donated all the gifts to a nearby orphanage. A desperate Ramakant ends up stealing the toaster, but it doesn’t take long for him to lose possession of it. This toaster trail leads to more chaos. Adding to the miserly man’s misery is his nosy neighbour, Mrs. Pherwani (Archana Puran Singh).

Screenplay & Direction

A miserly man seeking the return of a wedding gift, a toaster, is a plot explored in an episode of the acclaimed U.S. show The Office. Well, we assume it to be coincidental, but writer Parveez Shaikh has toasted an altogether different desi black comedy. Stinginess is perhaps common to many in Indian society, and that makes Ramakant relatable and likable. Shaikh and director Daschaudary combine to give a miserly narrative, but one that is hilariously generous in its black humour. Akshat Ghildial’s dialogues are a real rib-tickler. With a runtime of 125 minutes, the opening hour or so just breezes by, as you are left in splits with Ramakant’s agony, but never a drop in his miserly nature. Given the mayhem that follows, Toaster perhaps lacks a bit of seriousness that usually accompanies such potentially destructive situations, but this is after all a black comedy. One, however, is perplexed at the forgiving nature of the secondary antagonist, local politician Amol Amre (Jitendra Joshi). The humour quotient though remains intact for large parts.

Performances

The trailer triggered fears of whether we will see Rajkummar Rao in another of his Bareilly Ki Barfi! or Stree-like avatars. The tone feels familiar, but not the conflicts. This warrants a constantly worried look, but you are amazed at the extreme stinginess of Ramakant, to a point where it feels like obsessive-compulsive disorder. Well, he is scared to have kids, terming them as a lifelong investment with no return. Maybe even if he tried, his sperm too would be stingy enough. When Shilpa tears off the gift box containing a toaster, Ramakant suggests gifting an extension wire or a mouse as a wedding gift. His life and his career, everything is under threat, but the man never loses his stingy nature. The cops arrive at his residence in search of the stolen toaster, and our man has the gumption to request the cops to please hand over the missing nail cutter if they find it. Ramakant’s a kanjoos, and the constable a chindi chor (petty thief). As soon as the constable finds the nail cutter, he puts it in his pocket. Each time the missing toaster conversation comes up, Ramakant keeps inflating the price- 6k, 7k, 8k, to eventually 12k.

It’s hard to believe that such a man got married. It raises the question of how a gorgeous woman like Shilpa even married Ramakant. There may have been scope to explore this, but Daschaudary and Shaikh didn’t pursue it. Rao no longer has that youthful look, but there’s no drop in his childlike tantrums. It’s still enjoyable though, and Rao delivers another entertaining performance.

Sanya Malhotra’s Shilpa is an interesting character too. If Ramakant is obsessed with stinginess, Shilpa is hooked on crime shows, which trigger her inquisitive spirit and eventually unravel the dark secrets her husband has been hiding. No match for Ramakant’s madness exists, but Shilpa brings her own drama too – and Sanya Malhotra is game for it.

Archana Puran Singh is the surprise package here. The name Pherwani has a personal connection with this reviewer, so he’s all the more intrigued by Singh’s Pherwani. The nosy Sindhi neighbor starts off gentle, but one is astounded by her flamboyance. Singh began her career as a seductress in Jalwa (1987); since then, she’s barely gotten opportunities. Mrs. Pherwani, though, has a jalwa of a different kind. We’ll leave viewers to discover more about this character. This is arguably Archana’s finest role and performance.

Seema Pahwa’s cameo as the constipated landlord Mrs. D’Souza will make you sick to the gut. Her death, however, ranks among the most bizarre ever seen on screen. There’s Mrs. D’Souza on the commode, arguing with her hippie son Glen (Abhishek Banerjee), telling him to get out of her life. After much struggle, she does litter – but that final dump also drains the life out of her. The gross expression on the dead Mrs. D’Souza’s face truly stinks. Upendra Limaye’s Inspector Balagode is perhaps an incompetent cop, but the acclaimed actor is forever amusing.

Given the fun script, Patralekha must have been tempted to pair with her husband Rajkummar, but the producer didn’t impose herself. She does, however, make a guest appearance. The family production also helps her sister Parnalekhaa leave a decent impression as the female cop.

Music and Technical Aspects

OTT films and the genre usually don’t come with playback music. There’s little lyrical whispering in certain scenes. Though a drama-laden narrative, Daschaudary and his production designer Prashant Ray get to show creativity in Mrs. Pherwani’s residence. Then, the depiction of Ramakant’s nightmare, where Mrs. Pherwani appears as a kinky devil, with even Shilpa baying for him to be hanged, is a delightful watch. Jishnu Bhattacharjee’s cinematography and Prashant Ray’s production design add beauty to this nightmare sequence.

Final word

With Toaster, Rao and Patralekhaa have shown a desire to back unique concepts and shape them with a collective vision of the writers, director and producers. Toaster is largely engaging and entertaining. The stinginess has perhaps rubbed off on Netflix too, as evident from the select media screening. Call it a domino effect, but now the kanjoos makhichoos in this reviewer is compelled to be stingy in the final rating. Irrespective of the stars, certainly raise a toast to this Toaster.

Video review below.