A love story with fangs

Thamma is billed as the first love story in the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe. That tag tells you a lot. The film mixes romance, horror and comedy, and it leans on folklore rather than plain scares. Ayushmann Khurrana plays Alok Goyal, a journalist. His life changes after he meets Tadaka, a betaal, played by Rashmika Mandanna. A betaal is a vampire like being from Indian lore. Their bond is the heart of the film, and it is called a bloody love story in the marketing for a reason.
Aditya Sarpotdar directed Thamma. Niren Bhatt, Arun Fulara and Suresh Mathew wrote it. Dinesh Vijan and Amar Kaushik produced it for Maddock Films. The film reached cinemas on October 21, 2025, for Diwali. That festival slot put it in front of family audiences, and the horror comedy mix suited that crowd. You could take teens and parents together, and both would find something to enjoy.

The cast around the leads

Rashmika Mandanna and Ayushmann Khurrana share the screen for the first time here. Their Bollywood pairing was a big talking point before release. Fans wanted to see how their styles would fit. Ayushmann brings his usual comic timing and his everyman feel. Rashmika brings warmth and a strong screen presence. Together they carry the romance, even when the plot turns dark.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Paresh Rawal add weight in key roles. Nawazuddin plays Yakshasan, a figure tied to the old world of the betaals. Paresh Rawal plays a senior figure in Alok's world. Geeta Agarwal Sharma, Faisal Malik, Rachit Singh and Alexx ONell fill out the cast. Varun Dhawan also appears in a cameo, which links Thamma to Bhediya and the wider Maddock world. Reports put the cost of that cameo sequence near 20 crore rupees. That figure is reported, and you should treat it as such.

Where Thamma sits in the Maddock world

Maddock's horror comedy universe began with Stree in 2018, with Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. Bhediya followed in 2022, with Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon. Munjya came in 2024, then Stree 2 became a huge hit later that year. Thamma is the fifth film in that run. Each film stands alone, so you do not need to watch them in order. But fans enjoy the links, the cameos and the shared lore.
Thamma adds a new corner to that world. Stree dealt with a ghost in a small town. Bhediya dealt with a wolf man. Munjya dealt with a spirit tied to a tree. Thamma deals with betaals, beings who live by old rules and old grudges. That lore gives the film its own flavour. The jokes come from how a modern journalist reacts to an ancient world. The scares come from what that world wants in return.

Box office and streaming

Thamma opened strong. Reports put its first day near 24 crore rupees, and its first four days near 65.6 crore rupees. By late November 2025, trade reports put its India total near 147.81 crore rupees, with about 21.94 crore rupees from overseas. That took its worldwide total near 169.75 crore rupees in those reports. Exact totals vary by source, so treat those figures as reported totals, not final audited numbers.
The film then moved to Amazon Prime Video in two steps. Early access rental arrived on December 2, 2025. The full streaming premiere followed on December 16, 2025. That two step model is now common for big Hindi films. It lets eager fans pay early, then lets subscribers watch at no extra cost a few weeks later. If you missed the Diwali run, Prime Video is now the easy way to catch it.

Should you watch Thamma

You should watch Thamma if you like horror comedies that do not take themselves too seriously. The film has jokes, songs, a love story and some creepy set pieces. It is best watched with friends, late in the evening, when the jokes land louder. Ayushmann fans will enjoy his turn as a man out of his depth. Rashmika fans will enjoy a role with more bite than her usual romantic leads.
You should know the reviews were mixed. Some viewers loved the concept and the lead pair. Others felt the trailer promised more than the film gave, and some criticised the visual effects and the jokes. That split is normal for this genre. Horror comedy is hard to get right for every viewer. If you liked Stree and Bhediya, Thamma is worth one watch. If you want pure horror, this is not that film. It is a romance first, with horror as its setting.
Unconfirmed or reported, not stated as confirmed fact: the reported 20 crore rupee cost of the Varun Dhawan cameo sequence and exact box office totals are reported only, and no confirmed follow up film for Thamma has been announced in the sources used here.

Sources and reporting

  1. Moneycontrol — 2025-12-02 · Verifies Diwali release October 21 2025, director, writers, Prime Video rental December 2 and full release December 16 2025.
  2. News24 — 2025 · Verifies cast, fifth film status, box office near 169.75 crore worldwide as of late November 2025.
  3. Newsbytes — 2025-09-28 · Verifies trailer date, director Aditya Sarpotdar, producers Maddock Films and October 21 release.