Indian cinema is reclaiming its ancestral vault, and Thamma—starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna—stands as the boldest Diwali resurrection yet. Far from rote retellings, the film braids disparate mythological threads into an original tapestry: Goddess Kali’s annihilation of the blood-seed demon Raktabeej births the Betaals, divine agents tasked with drinking evil before it multiplies. This isn’t Western vampirism; it’s cosmic sanitation, born from the Devi Mahatmya’s iconic moment when Kali, drunk on rage, steps on Shiva and bites her tongue in divine self-reckoning.

At the heart lies Yakshasan, the original Thamma—once Kali’s noble enforcer, corrupted by Partition’s horrors into a human-hunting predator. Sealed for centuries, his rebellion sets the stage for Ayushmann’s Alok Goyal: a journalist bitten, transformed, and resurrected with a heartbeat, embodying conscience amid supernatural fury. The title nods to Mahabharata’s Ashwatthama—immortal, wounded, eternally atoning—infusing the narrative with the ache of power tethered to punishment.

Echoes of Vikram Aur Betaal ripple through the moral architecture. Though Thamma’s Betaals don’t narrate riddles, the spirit of supernatural interrogation persists—forcing characters (and viewers) to confront ethical gray zones. Released during Kali Puja’s blood-red sindoor and Diwali firecrackers, the timing is deliberate: destruction as protection, chaos as order, myth as mirror to modern India.

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Thamma proves Indian stories need no Marvel crutches. By honoring contradictions—rage and remorse, protection and predation—it crafts a cinematic language that feels ancient yet startlingly new. This isn’t preservation; it’s reincarnation. The future of desi blockbusters isn’t borrowed spectacle—it’s folklore, fierce and reborn.

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