So, vampires have finally sunk their teeth into Bollywood – and it’s not what you think.
When the teaser for Thama dropped, the first instinct was to expect the familiar: jump scares, moody forests, and perhaps a love story too brooding for its own good. But what we got instead was something far more intriguing – a visually arresting, genre-bending tease of a film that looks determined to redefine the rules of horror, romance, and everything in between.
Helmed by Aditya Sarpotdar and weaved by the minds behind Stree, Bhediya, and Munjya, Thama positions itself as the most ambitious chapter yet in the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe. From the very first frame, there’s an unmistakable sense of scale. Ancient ruins, flickering torches, shadowy corridors – all rendered with a sense of grandeur that hints at an epic love story buried deep within myth and blood-soaked legend.
Ayushmann Khurrana plays a historian, but don’t expect the tweed-jacket, dusty-library kind. His voiceover – “Reh paogyi mere bina 100 saal tak?” – oozes both pain and provocation, instantly pulling us into a mystery that seems to transcend time. Rashmika Mandanna, in what promises to be a breakout genre performance, responds with chilling tenderness: “100 saal kya, ek pal ke liye bhi nahi.” Their chemistry is on point even in this short glimpse, and it feels like the emotional spine of the film may rest on their doomed (or undead?) romance.
But Thama is no usual love story. The teaser is packed with swift, stylish action sequences and eerie supernatural imagery – think vampire lore woven with Indian mythology, all presented with a vibrant, kinetic flair. There’s a quick flash of Nawazuddin Siddiqui delivering a deadpan one-liner that breaks the tension at just the right moment, reminding us we’re still in Maddock territory – where horror is always served with a side of satire.
The production design is lush, the cinematography moody but never muddy, and Sachin-Jigar’s background score pulses with just enough menace to leave you wanting more.
By the time the teaser ends, you’re not entirely sure what you’ve just seen – a horror epic? A twisted fairytale? A historical fever dream? But what Thama makes clear is this: it’s not here to play safe. It’s here to bite, bleed, and bewilder.
If the film delivers on even half the promise of this teaser, Thama could very well be Bollywood’s boldest horror-romance experiment yet.
