The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest Review - Missing the Forest for the Trees

Some spirituality is steeped in the soul and then there is some inspired by spreadsheets. The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest is the latter and like its spelling, it has too much of everything. A collaboration between TVF and Balaji Telefilms, The Vvaan hopes its pretty leads will make up for the story’s mix of blind faith, rituals and modern values. Cityslicker Rishi (Sidharth Malhotra) and his wife Mamta (Tamannaah Bhatia) are craving for parenthood. Rishi also wants to sell his part of an ancestral land but his elder brother, Shashi (Anup Soni) refuses, influenced by his wife Sushila (Shweta Tiwari). Since Kantara and now Hanuman Ansh, filmmakers have decided that grounded stories are great (till they stop working).

Deepak Kumar Mishra’s direction is ordinary and the music is subpar. An extended Chhatth Puja sequence should please residents of Bihar. “Bhakti mein shakti hai (devotion is strength),” says Malhotra who becomes a born-again believer after unleashing primordial forces in a sacred forest. How he wins the forest back from the villain (Sunil Grover) is the rest of the story. Trees that trap, forests that are fierce and women who steal men’s clothes—the reign of horror comedies had to end. Adding religion to the mix doesn’t help.