Director: Deepak Kumar Mishra
Rating: **½
Released in cinemas today, September 25, 2026, The Vvaan: Force of the Forest attempts to plant its flag in the popular Indian folk-thriller space championed by the likes of Tumbbad and Kantara. Directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra (Panchayat) and written by TVF head Arunabh Kumar, the collaboration between Balaji Motion Pictures and TVF Motion Pictures takes Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia deep into the mystical forests of Bihar's hinterlands.
While the 142-minute film constructs a lush, genuinely eerie regional mythology, its ambitious themes eventually get tangled in an overstuffed, VFX-heavy second half.
The Story & Script
The narrative takes us to Devanchal, an ancestral village governed by an age-old covenant: no human soul must enter the sacred forest after sundown. Centuries ago, dark malevolent entities (phuddakke) plagued the land until a benevolent forest deity, Van Devi, trapped them behind an ethereal boundary, granting a sacred bracelet to the rightful royal heir (uttaradhikari) to walk unharmed among the trees.
Years later, Rishi (Sidharth Malhotra), a rationalist urban architect, returns to Devanchal alongside his wife Mamta (Tamannaah Bhatia) for Chhath Puja and an ancestral land settlement. Both carry heavy emotional baggage—the silent grief of losing an unborn child six years prior, which severed Rishi’s faith in divine intervention.
When a villager’s livestock strays into the forbidden woods, Rishi enters the forest after dark to prove the legend is mere superstition—and walks out unscathed. Rather than dispelling belief, his survival convinces the fearful villagers that he is the prophesied protector. The conflict deepens as a local power broker, Deepak (Sunil Grover), schemes to raze the forest for an industrial highway project. Caught between modern greed, ancestral heritage guarded by his elder brother (Anup Soni), and awakened supernatural terrors, Rishi is forced to confront forces that defy logic.
Direction & Screenplay
Deepak Kumar Mishra’s transition from rural satire (Panchayat) to supernatural folklore is visually commanding. The first hour builds an absorbing, authentic rustic world. The depiction of Chhath Puja rituals on the village ghats, regional superstitions, and local administrative cynicism feels grounded and lived-in.
However, Arunabh Kumar’s screenplay bites off more than it can chew in the second half. The delicate balance between ecological preservation, personal grief, and divine mythology shifts into a conventional good-versus-evil creature-feature showdown. Rather than letting the eerie dread simmer through atmosphere, the narrative resorts to rapid exposition and CGI-driven set pieces, losing some of the haunting magic established in the opening act.
Performances
Sidharth Malhotra: Sidharth turns in an earnest, physically committed performance as Rishi. While his dramatic confrontation scenes dealing with grief occasionally feel surface-level, he excels in the high-stakes survival sequences and carries the third-act action beats with solid conviction.
Tamannaah Bhatia: As Mamta, Tamannaah brings grace, quiet vulnerability, and emotional poise to the story. Her character's personal faith acts as a vital bridge to the village’s spiritual roots, though the second-half writing sidelines her in favor of action spectacle.
Sunil Grover: Stepping away from broad comedic tropes, Sunil Grover is a pleasant surprise as Deepak. He plays the scheming, modern contractor with subtle, grounded menace rather than loud melodrama.
Anup Soni & Shweta Tiwari: Anup Soni lends authentic patriarchal weight as the traditional elder brother trying to protect the grove, while Shweta Tiwari and Maniesh Paul provide solid, believable texture to the village dynamic.
Technical Craft & Music
Cinematography: Manu Anand’s camera work is the film’s biggest asset. The visual design treats the forest as an actual living entity. Heavy morning mists, moss-covered canopies, and torchlit night patrols evoke genuine dread without relying on cheap jump scares.
Music & Score: Composed with strong regional folk flavor, the Chhathi Maiya hymn and background chants by Sandeep Shirodkar lend cultural gravity to the folklore. The visual effects—handled by Labyrinth Studios and Divinity Pictures—are generally immersive, particularly during encounters with the mythical forest beasts, though a few climactic CGI sequences look slightly rushed.
Final Verdict
The Vvaan: Force of the Forest is a visually striking, culturally rich attempt to tap into regional Indian folklore. While its screenplay falters by trading atmospheric dread for conventional creature-thriller tropes in the final act, solid turns from Sidharth Malhotra and Sunil Grover alongside Manu Anand's evocative cinematography make it an engaging big-screen watch for fans of rustic supernatural mysteries.
