'Tu Yaa Main' Review: A Crackling Creature Feature

'Tu Yaa Main' is a fun time at the movies, and that's even before the man-eating crocodile enters the picture.

Shanaya Kapoor and Adarsh Gourav star in Bejoy Nambiar's creature feature Tu Yaa Main.

(Photo Courtesy: Bhanushali Studios Limited)

After a series of recent misfires, Bejoy Nambiar appears to have finally broken free of the “style over substance” tag with creature feature—Tu Yaa Main. Here, the filmmaker’s music video-like aesthetic sinks its teeth into enjoyable material.

A remake of the 2018 Thai film The Pool, Tu Yaa Main is a film of two worlds. The first—a spunky, sizzling attraction story between two influencers from two different Mumbais. The second, a survival thriller where the couple is trapped in a swimming pool, forced to face off against a man-eating crocodile. Even if the two “halves” don’t always inform each other seamlessly, they collide well enough in a film that delivers on all its promises and makes for a refreshing, fun time at the movies.

There’s ambition, there’s conviction, there’s a sparkling, self-aware silliness. I walked out with a giant smile on my face.

Adarsh Gourav as Maruti Kadam AKA Ala Flopara in Tu Yaa Main.

(Photo Courtesy: Bhanushali Limited Studios)

Meet rapper Maruti Kadam AKA Ala Flopara from Nalasopara (a crackling Adarsh Gourav continues to prove he’s one of our finest talents, and it’s great to see him in a role that lets him cut loose). Flo, as his friends call him, is in search of greatness, fame, and a bigger Instagram following. His meant-for-big-things ambitions are far bigger than the “dus by dus kholi” he shares with his sister and mother.

At an event, he meets top influencer Avani Shah AKA Ms Vanity (Shanaya Kapoor). He dreams of a collab to hit the next level of followers and shamelessly pursues her. Thankfully for Flo, she’s the wild child, a rebellious rich girl in search of adventure.

A dreamy evening escalates into a budding romance in a buzzing, by-the-book class-divide attraction story. The two step into each other’s worlds, and sparks fly. The characters are colourful, the chemistry is palpable, and the banter is constant.

Flo, of course, gets the best lines. A watchable Shanaya Kapoor has presence, more so as Ms Vanity, where the ask is confidence and attitude rather than the more dramatically demanding thriller half. ​

A Fizzy, Fun Young Romance

The Bejoy Nambiar stylistic vibe is well-focused into a fizzy, fun flirtationship in the romance half of Tu Yaa Main. I like that the film never takes their “love story” too seriously, nor does it let them forget the different worlds they come from. My only complaint is that I wish we got more actual music videos—the Bejoy “set pieces” that he crafts with such zeal. We see glimpses of it here with Flo’s rap performance on stage—and a festival sequence bursting with colour.

A still from Tu Yaa Main.

(Photo Courtesy: Bhanushali Studios Limited)

As it must, reality soon catches up and bursts Avani and Flo’s bubble when her friends and family step in. “Just because you like a street dog doesn't mean you bring it home", says her male friend, who, of course, is named Yash. As the honeymoon period fades, suddenly their differences seem less charming and more challenging. To Bejoy and writer Abhishek Arun Bandekar’s credit, Tu Yaa Main mounts such a credible young “love story” with a solid central conflict that we almost don’t even need the crocodile. I would’ve happily watched what became of these two in less lethal circumstances.

Anyway, post-interval, we know the pair will be trapped at the bottom of an empty swimming pool. You’d think how they get there is straightforward.

Two over-eager content creators in a secluded place trying to make a cool video, perhaps? But the reality of how they end up trapped there is far more “plotty” and risks feeling overwritten.

It’s partly because there’s a baffling, bizarre cameo sequence featuring Parvathy Thiruvothu (looking cool as hell, I might add) as a deaf, mute scuba diver who takes pity on Avani when the couple is busy bickering. It’s just as random as it sounds and serves no real narrative purpose that I could discern.

A Well-Written Thriller

I haven't seen the original Thai film, so I don’t know how much of the specific beats are borrowed from there, but the survival thriller side of Tu Yaa Main is impressively written and conceived.

The use of space, the set-ups and pay-offs (slippery floors, rusting ladders, loose screws, power outages, broken phones), and the solid escalation of stakes make for a consistently thrilling ride that doesn’t overstay its welcome and maintains a firm grip on our emotional state.

A still from Tu Yaa Main.

(Photo Courtesy: Bhanushali Studios Limited)

Arguably, the most effective stretch is a lengthy sequence showing how the pair end up trapped and alone, before said croc even makes an entrance. Avani is napping in the middle of an emptying pool with the water level dropping. It would’ve made for a striking visual—to see her gradually “sinking” without realising it. At the risk of enraging PETA, again I’d argue, you almost don’t even need the croc. But the stakes, and our heart rates, must be constantly raised.

Even at its silliest, Tu Yaa Main hits every stressful survival thriller note you’d hope for—from wondering what you’d do in that situation, to judging the characters for their choices, to squirming in your seat, to fighting every impulse to scream “don’t go in there, WTF!” at the screen.

I also like that the narrative tries to root the creature feature within their relationship struggles. The results are mixed, but the ideas remain promising. What tests the strength of a relationship better than a life-threatening scenario? The pair must learn to think outside themselves for once and put the other first. All they have is each other, quite literally. Work together or die alone. Communication is key. Keep bickering and biting each other’s heads off, and you may actually get yours bitten off. Who needs a couples therapist when you have a crocodile?

Tu Yaa Main is a refreshing, clutter-breaking big swing, and everything Hindi cinema could use more of in 2026.

Tu Yaa Main releases in theatres on 13 February. ​

(Suchin Mehrotra is a critic and film journalist who covers Indian cinema for a range of publications. He's also the host of The Streaming Show podcast on his own YouTube channel. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)