Saagar Kote
‘Toaster’ delves into the experiences of Ramakant Parikh, an extremely miserly man who lives in Mumbai with his wife, Shilpa. He looks to save money every second of his life, often making tough choices. His already difficult life becomes tougher when a toaster gets linked to his fate. Ramakant and Shilpa give an expensive toaster as a gift to a would-be couple at a pre-wedding reception. But when the wedding is called off, he thinks that his expensive gift just cost him money for nothing.
Ramakant grows obsessed with getting the toaster back and tries desperately to do so. His life turns upside down when his pursuit of the toaster shockingly lands him in the middle of a murder case. Facing an unprecedented risk, Ramakant must escape the murder charges, save his relationship with Shilpa, and also retrieve the toaster, which is somehow connected to everything. The stakes get deadlier for Ramakant and Shilpa towards the end of the narrative, and their fates remain uncertain. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Toaster Plot Synopsis
Ramakant Parikh digs a hole in the ground at night while a mysterious woman watches him. The narrative then shifts to a few weeks earlier. A politician named Amre publicly condemns a massage parlor for illegal activities, though he himself secretly indulges in sex with foreign sex workers. Glen, a gardener at his house, records a sex video of Amre and begins blackmailing him for money. Ramakant is a miserly man obsessed with saving every rupee. He lives with his wife, Shilpa, who loves him but is frustrated by his stinginess and reluctance to start a family. Glen lives with his mother, Mrs. D’Souza, who is also Ramakant’s landlady.
Ramakant runs a small perfume shop and sources products from Guddu. When he and Shilpa are expected to attend a pre-wedding reception, Shilpa insists on buying a toaster as a gift. Ramakant reluctantly agrees and gifts the toaster to the would-be bride and groom. However, the wedding is called off the next day due to the groom’s infidelity, and Ramakant becomes obsessed with retrieving the toaster, considering it a waste of money. Ramakant learns that all the wedding gifts were donated to an orphanage. He visits the orphanage to retrieve the toaster but is prevented from taking it by Nandini, the orphanage’s head. Determined, Ramakant breaks in at night and steals it. As he escapes, the kids spot him. Ramakant places the toaster at Mrs. D’Souza’s apartment to avoid legal issues, since he stole it.
Meanwhile, Glen finalizes a deal with Amre to receive 2 crores via Amre’s associate, Balgaode. Glen later hides the SD card containing Amre’s sex video inside the toaster at his house. Soon after, Mrs. D’Souza dies. At the funeral, Ramakant learns he can get a refund if he returns the toaster. He tries to retrieve it, but Glen refuses. That night, Ramakant sneaks into the house disguised in funeral attire. A drugged Glen mistakes him for his mother’s spirit, but soon realizes the truth. They fight over the toaster on the balcony, and Glen accidentally falls to his death. Ramakant flees instantly and goes home. The next day, he tries to return the toaster but is denied a refund. Soon, he receives a video showing Glen’s fall, implicating him.
It is revealed that Balgaode is a police officer investigating Glen’s case and is also searching for the missing toaster, unaware that it contains the video of Glen’s death. Balgaode does this as he had spotted the toaster with Glen earlier. Ramakant is summoned by his neighbor, Mrs. Pherwani, who secretly recorded his involvement in Glen’s death. She blackmails him, demanding he become her sexual partner in exchange for silence. Ramakant refuses initially but eventually hands over the toaster to calm her. Shilpa overhears Balgaode discussing the toaster’s importance.
Meanwhile, Pherwani continues to manipulate Ramakant and demands 50 lakhs. Desperate, Ramakant seeks help from Guddu, who reveals he is an assassin. However, when Guddu confronts Pherwani, she kills him and forces Ramakant to dispose of the remains. They bury Guddu at an amusement park, the same scene shown at the beginning. As events escalate, Pherwani unknowingly places another SD card containing footage of Glen’s death in the toaster, which already holds Amre’s video. Now, the toaster contains two crucial pieces of evidence. Balgaode connects the orphanage theft to Ramakant, and Shilpa realizes that the toaster is central to everything and begins investigating independently.
Pherwani even claims she is pregnant with Ramakant’s child, further trapping him. Eventually, Balgaode, by bullying Ramakant, tracks the toaster to Pherwani’s apartment. Ramakant drops him near the complex, and shortly after, receives a message from Balgaode’s phone claiming the job is done. When Ramakant arrives, he finds Balgaode dead, killed by Pherwani. She again forces him to help dispose of the body. They head to the amusement park, where Ramakant digs another hole. This time, Shilpa follows them and witnesses everything. As Shilpa confronts Ramakant, chaos follows.
Toaster Ending: Is Pherwani Dead or Alive? Does Balgaode Survive?
Shilpa shows up at the amusement park and is shocked to see Ramakant covering a grave with mud. Pherwani uses this opportunity to further blackmail him. The old lady tells Ramakant that she will tell Shilpa their secret. The wife grows worried, and Ramakant attempts to pacify the situation. In a shocking twist, Balgaode suddenly wakes up, having fooled both Ramakant and Pherwani. The cop pulls out his gun and scares Pherwani. He chokes her and demands that she reveal the toaster’s location. When she asks him why he needs it, Balgaode says he needs it to acquire the SD card with the video. Pherwani is unaware that the cop is actually talking about the sex video and not the video of Glen’s death. Ramakant examines the grave and finds the toaster next to Guddu’s body, which he had buried earlier.
Ramakant is weirdly excited to finally find the toaster, which makes him confident that he will soon be a free man. Balgaode is hilariously confused when Ramakant mentions the video, since he is unaware of Ramakant’s situation regarding it. Shilpa is desperate to learn more about the video and is also confused about what Ramakant, Balgaode, and Pherwani are talking about. The cop strikes the old lady on the head and temporarily incapacitates her. He then holds Ramakant at gunpoint and asks him to retrieve the toaster from the grave. Balgaode then shares his location with Amre so that he can collect the blue SD card containing the sex video. As the cop does this, Shilpa slyly takes his gun away and threatens him. She then demands to know the truth from Ramakant.
The helpless husband tells her everything related to the complex history between him and Pherwani, and how the old lady forced him to be intimate with her. Ramakant blames the toaster for everything and smashes it on the ground in anger. The broken toaster reveals the two SD cards within, the blue one and the red one, which has the video of Glen’s death. Pherwani manages to flick the gun from Shilpa and threatens everyone around her. Meanwhile, Amre uses the location sent by Balgaode to drive towards the amusement park. Pherwani uses her own phone to insert the blue SD card to watch its content. Amre’s video shocks everyone, and the cop suddenly assaults Pherwani to take control of the situation. However, Pherwani holds on to the gun and fatally shoots Balgaode, after which he falls into the grave.
Amre and his men arrive at the amusement park and hear this gunshot. Shilpa and Ramakant run away from the burial site, and Pherwani chases them. She keeps shooting the couple, but fails to wound or kill them. After running out of bullets, a hilarious fight ensues between the couple and the old lady. Pherwani corners Shilpa and Ramakant, initially overpowering both. The couple then fight together and use special martial arts moves to counter Pherwani. When the old lady runs towards them to beat them up, she mistakenly falls to the ground from a great height. This proves to be a tremendous blow to Pherwani, who breathes her last. Shilpa and Ramakant manage to escape from both Pherwani and Balgaode, thanks to luck and a rare husband-wife fighting effort.
What Happens to the Two Videos? Are Ramakant and Amre Safe?
The two SD cards and the toaster drive the narrative tension and heighten the characters’ misery and uncertainty. During the fight between Balgaode and Pherwani, Ramakant secretly picks up the red SD card. After the old lady dies, Amre and his men arrive at the spot and see the husband and wife. Amre demands to know where Balgaode is, and the couple leads him towards the grave. Amre takes the red SD card from Ramakant, assuming it is one with the sex video. Ramakant and Shilpa assure Amre that they have not watched the video. To prevent anyone from using the video further, Amre eats it. Ramakant is relieved to see the video of Glen’s death destroyed, and doesn’t say anything to Amre.
The story doesn’t explicitly reveal the fate of the blue SD card containing Amre’s video. The blue SD card was inserted into Pherwani’s phone earlier. It can be presumed that it was destroyed during the fight between Balgaode and Pherwani. Even if Pherwani managed to hold on to it during her fight against Shilpa and Ramakant, it is most likely that her fall to the ground destroyed the phone. Both Amre and Ramakant are finally free from blackmail attempts related to their videos.
Do Shilpa and Ramakant Get Back Together? Why?
Ramakant and Shilpa go through tremendous chaos to achieve liberation from their ordeal. His experiences with Pherwani threaten to derail the marital bond. As they leave the amusement park, he apologizes to Shilpa for his behavior. She boards the two-wheeler and prepares to ride away alone, asking Ramakant to leave her. He says that whatever happened between him and Pherwani was a result of blackmail. Shilpa still finds it difficult to listen to him. Due to a fuel shortage, the two are forced to walk. He apologizes to Shilpa again and gets emotional. He also says she matters to him and that he feels extremely guilty about his actions. He assures his wife that he is not a pervert or a cheat.
Shilpa holds his hand and heartily accepts his apology, after which they go home. Their relationship definitely has flaws, mainly because of Ramakant’s attitude towards life. However, he is also a man who truly loves his wife, although he has his own vulnerabilities. Shilpa trusts her husband and always stands by him in difficult situations. Despite the terrible situations and challenges they face, Shilpa and Ramakant finally realize that they genuinely care about each other. By giving their marriage another chance, they will presumably be happier in the future.
What Does the Perfume Shop Scene Signify? Will Ramakant Stop Being a Miser?
Ramakant’s miserly nature forces him to make difficult decisions, often placing him in trouble. He is someone so obsessed with saving money that he readily sacrifices material comforts. Towards the end of the story, Ramakant and Shilpa go to a Gurudwara (place of worship). Instead of going to a restaurant to have lunch, the two of them end up eating at the community kitchen within the Gurudwara. Ramakant is still looking to save money every second of his life. He even appreciates the miserliness of others who refuse to buy expensive perfume at his shop. Money means more for Ramakant because he knows its value and how desperate it makes people.
Though his experiences and the drama with the toaster may have slightly changed his opinion, Ramakant remains steadfast in his mission to keep saving money and avoid spending on things he deems worthless to lead a happy life. His character arc is a commentary on the survival tactics of the middle class to get by without financial burdens in a competitive world. Although he has these obsessions, Ramakant is a good and loyal man with his own perspective on the meaning of life.
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