The Vvaan Review: A Gripping Start but a Disappointing Fantasy Thriller Ending

Vvaan Review time, and I am not going to sugarcoat anything for you. I walked into the theatre on release day, September 25, with genuinely high hopes for The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest, and I am writing this Vvaan review as someone who watched the film first-day-first-show, not someone recycling a press note

If you have been searching for an honest The Vvaan movie review, a real answer to “is The Vvaan worth watching,” or a proper The Vvaan movie ending explained breakdown, this is the only page you need to bookmark. 

Directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra and headlined by Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia, The Vvaan is being talked about as an unusual pairing of Ektaa Kapoor’s supernatural storytelling style with The Viral Fever’s more grounded, slice-of-life writing sensibility. 

 On paper, that combination sounded exciting. In the theatre, it plays out very differently, and that gap between promise and delivery is exactly what this Vvaan review is going to unpack, scene by scene, half by half. 

Vvaan Review: What Is The Vvaan About? (Plot Summary) 

Before I get into my personal verdict, here is the setup, because a good Sidharth Malhotra Tamannaah Bhatia The Vvaan review has to explain the story clearly. 

The film opens in 7th-century Devanchal, where an old rule binds the entire village: nobody enters the forest, the “van,” after sunset. The rule exists because of Van Devi, a protective but dangerous folk deity said to guard the woods.  

When the queen’s life is threatened, the king of Devanchal is forced to break this rule and step into the forest after dark, and that single decision sets off consequences that stretch across centuries. 

Cut to the present day. Rishi (Sidharth Malhotra) is a city-based man trying to sell his family’s ancestral land for a new road project.

That decision reawakens the old legend, pulling him and his wife (Tamannaah Bhatia) into a chain of supernatural events connected to the ancient Devanchal story.  

Maniesh Paul, Sunil Grover, Annup Sonii, and Shweta Tiwari fill out the supporting cast, anchoring the present-day family drama while the mythological track unfolds in parallel. 

Vvaan Review: Cast and Performances 

This part of my Vvaan review is genuinely the film’s strongest section. Sidharth Malhotra looks completely invested in Rishi’s arc, and there is a rawness in his later scenes that feels like some of his better dramatic work in years.  

Tamannaah Bhatia holds her own in a role that demands both emotional grounding and reacting convincingly to escalating supernatural chaos, which is not an easy balance. 

The supporting cast is where the film gets its texture. Sunil Grover and Maniesh Paul bring in lighter, human moments that stop the film from feeling like a non-stop mythological lecture, while Shweta Tiwari and Annup Sonii add weight to the family-drama side of the story. Out of a five-point scale, I would put the performances at a solid 4/5, the actors are clearly not the problem here. 

Sidharth Malhotra Brings Depth to Rishi

Sidharth Malhotra looks completely invested in Rishi’s journey. His performance becomes stronger as the character’s situation gets darker and more emotional.

In the later parts of the film, there is a rawness in his acting that works really well. His expressions and body language do a good job of showing Rishi’s fear, confusion and emotional struggle without making every moment feel overly dramatic.

What I particularly liked is that Sidharth does not try to make every scene look larger than life. Some of his better moments come when he simply reacts to what is happening around him. These quieter scenes give the character more emotional weight.

For me, this feels like some of Sidharth’s better dramatic work in recent years. Even when the screenplay becomes difficult to follow, his performance gives the character a sense of purpose and keeps you interested in Rishi’s journey.

Tamannaah Bhatia Adds Emotional Balance

Tamannaah Bhatia also holds her own in a role that requires a different kind of performance. Her character has to provide emotional grounding while also reacting to the supernatural events happening around her.

That balance is not easy. If the reactions are too dramatic, the scenes can start feeling unnatural. If they are too subtle, the emotional impact can get lost. Tamannaah stays fairly convincing as the situation around her intensifies.

Her presence also helps bring some emotional connection to the story. While the film spends a lot of time dealing with its fantasy and supernatural elements, her performance helps keep the human side of the story alive.

Vvaan Review: First Half: The Gripping Start 

If you read only one section of this Vvaan review, make it this one, because it explains exactly why so many early reactions on release day were positive. 

The first 70-odd minutes of The Vvaan are genuinely well constructed. The film takes its time establishing Rishi’s ordinary city life before slowly pulling threads from his past.  

The transition from Mumbai’s urban chaos to Devanchal’s rooted, folklore-heavy village atmosphere is handled with real craft, there’s a visible shift in colour grading, sound design, and pacing that makes the village feel like a different world entirely.

 The Chhath Puja sequence deserves special mention. It is shot with genuine festive warmth, the music complements it beautifully, and it is one of the few moments where the film’s ambition to root a supernatural story in lived-in Indian tradition actually pays off.  

The mystery around Van Devi is teased well too, with enough unanswered questions to keep you leaning forward instead of checking your phone. 

Vvaan Review: Second Half: Where It Falls Apart 

Here is the part that turns this from a positive write-up into a more balanced, honest The Vvaan movie review. The second half is where the screenplay simply cannot sustain what it built. 

Instead of deepening the Van Devi mythology or tying the ancestral-land subplot into something emotionally resonant, the writing starts throwing plot developments at the screen without earning them.  

Character motivations shift abruptly, the pacing lurches between rushed exposition and dragged-out confrontation scenes, and what should have been a gripping mystery-thriller climax instead feels muddled and, at points, genuinely confusing.  

Three separate reviewers I compared notes with after the show used almost the same word independently: “mess.” That is not a coincidence. 

The film had five or six genuinely strong ingredients on the table, folklore, faith, a family drama, a supernatural mystery, and impressive production scale, but it never figures out how to braid them into one coherent final act. That is my single biggest complaint in this Vvaan review, and it is the reason the ending underwhelms rather than satisfies. 

Vvaan Review: Direction, Music & Technical Aspects 

Deepak Kumar Mishra clearly has a strong visual sense. The VFX team deserves credit too, the way the Bhutakkas’ backstory is presented has an almost anime-meets-Indian-folklore quality that looks genuinely fresh for a mainstream Hindi release. On a technical scorecard: 

• Direction / Vision: 3.5/5 

• VFX & Visuals: 4/5 

• Music & Background Score: 4/5 

• Screenplay & Writing: 2.5/5 

• Editing / Pacing: 2.5/5 

Those numbers, averaged out, land close to the overall rating I am giving the film below, and they explain exactly where the budget and the ambition went, versus where the story control was lost. 

Vvaan Review: Ending Explained (Spoiler Warning) 

If you have not watched the film yet, skip to the next section, this part of the Vvaan review contains spoilers. 

The climax ties Rishi’s decision to sell the ancestral land back to the original 7th-century transgression against Van Devi’s forest, suggesting that the debt the Devanchal king incurred by breaking the sunset rule has been quietly passed down the family line.  

The film wants this to land as a generational-karma reveal, but because so much of the connecting tissue in the second half is rushed, the emotional payoff feels more explained-at-you than earned.  

Several early social media reactions gave the film an enthusiastic 3.5/5 straight out of the first show, largely riding on goodwill from the first half, my own number after sitting with the full film is a touch lower, for reasons this Vvaan review has already laid out. 

Vvaan Review: Rating Is The Vvaan Worth Watching? 

My final verdict: 3/5. 

Watch The Vvaan for Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia’s performances, for the VFX, and for a genuinely promising first hour.  

Go in with tempered expectations for the back half, and you’ll likely walk out feeling entertained rather than cheated, just not blown away. If you are a big fantasy-thriller fan who forgives a messy third act for strong world-building, this one is worth a big-screen watch.   

If you need your endings airtight, wait for the streaming release instead. 

Vvaan Review: Where to Watch The Vvaan 

The Vvaan released in theatres on September 25, and as of now it is a theatrical-only release, with no confirmed OTT date yet. I will update this Vvaan review the moment a streaming platform is announced, so bookmark this page.  

For everything else new in Bollywood this week, check our latest coverage, and if fantasy-thriller mashups are your thing, browse our full Fantasy and Thriller collections for similar recommendations.  

You can also see how The Vvaan compares with other new releases in our Movie Reviews section, and track what’s coming next in our Upcoming Movies hub. 

Conclusion 

To sum up this Vvaan review: The Vvaan had every ingredient to become one of 2026’s standout Hindi fantasy-thrillers, a rooted folklore premise, committed lead performances, atmospheric production design, and genuinely impressive VFX.  

What it lacks is a screenplay disciplined enough to carry that ambition all the way to the end.  

It is a film I would still recommend for the experience and the craft on display but go in knowing the back half doesn’t match the promise of the opening act.  

That’s my honest, first-day take, and as always, I’ll keep updating this space as more reactions and box office numbers roll in. 

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