A gangster on big screen is the biggest contradiction a man can ever imagine for himself. He is a man who has all the power in the room and yet cannot control his impulses, the voices in his head or the weapon in his hand.
Why is it then a story of a corrupt man who is prudish, murderous and atrocious in ways an everyday man can relate pulls us into theatres for a watch?
The most popular gangster Indian audiences have grown up familiar to is the vengeful Vijay Deenanath Chauchan (Amitabh Bachchan) from Mukul Anand's Agneepath, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather series and most recently Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders whose goal is to monopolise legal and illegal enterprises like race tracks, import-export, and distilleries through ruthless control and violence, if need be.
So for a film like Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, that had everyone talking when it was first announced in December 2023, and hopeful for another gangster drama, after much delay in his release, the reviews have not been kind to the film or its subject matter.
Toxic follows Raya and his sister played by Nayanthara who've strongly bonded over a shared childhood drama, want to take over control over Goa from the Portuguese opium traders. But that's not where the conflict of the film rests itself, it is in the way Raya's treatment of women in his life makes him. Despite the visual granduer, enormous set design, the story remains choppy and out of place with its dialogues that may be well-suited for KGF.
In case, you're disappointed over Toxic not meeting your expectations, here's a list of well-made period gangster films to watch instead.
Leonardo DiCaprio was able to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to come out of his long hiatus from acting for Martin Scorsese's 2004 film Gangs of New York. Set in 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher; his father's killer.
Where To Watch: Prime Video, Netflix
Anurag Kashyap brings the local gang wars in North India to the big screen with two-part film starring Manoj Vajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi and more.
Where To Watch: Netflix
In the 1950s, truck driver Frank Sheeran gets involved with Russell Bufalino and his Pennsylvania crime family. As Sheeran climbs the ranks to become a top hit man, he also goes to work for Jimmy Hoffa -- a powerful Teamster tied to organized crime.
Where To Watch: Netflix
Despite Prohibition in the USA, a mobster, Al Capone, continues his illicit liquor business. A federal agent, Eliot Ness, is assigned to expose Capone's illegal business and bring him to justice.
Where To Watch: Prime Videos
Created by Mani Ratnam with Kamal Haasan, Delhi Ganesh and more, Velu Naicker (Haasan), a slum kid turned feared don in Mumbai, becomes a complex figure of justice and vengeance in this Tamil masterpiece. Loosely based on the life of Varadarajan Mudaliar, Nayakan brings emotional weight and operatic scale to the best gangster movies South Indian cinema has created.
Where To Watch: Prime Videos
A Yash film that's another period gangster drama, KGF Chapter 1 and 2 follows a fierce young man named Rocky in the 1970s who rises from deep poverty in Bombay to become a powerful mafia mercenary.
Where To Watch: Prime Videos
A poor boy named Sultan Mirza arrives in the city, rises through the ranks, and becomes a powerful yet kind-hearted smuggler who rules the underworld with a strict code of honor.
Where To Watch: Prime Videos