Ramakant (Rajkummar Rao) is a chronic miser who instinctively gravitates towards the freebie like a homing pigeon to its roost. No discount or is too low for the perfume seller’s dignity.

He’s the kind of man who will bring along a doggie bag to a feast or harangue a customer service executive for a six-rupee refund. Recycling advocates and cost-conscious people would approve, of course, but Ramakant’s antics deeply embarrass his wife Shilpa (Sanya Malhotra).

She’s driven to the edge of apoplexy when Ramakant insists on retrieving a toaster given as a wedding gift after the tasomarriage is called off. The toaster has already been elsewhere and is now the bearer of a secret known only to D’Souza’s frequently stoned son Glen (Abhishek Banerjee).

The appliance then becomes an accessory to murder, which ties together Glen, the police inspector Balagode (Upendra Limaye), the government minister Amre (Jitendra Joshi) and Ramakant’s neighbour, the dirty old woman Malini (Archana Puran Singh).

For a film about extreme stinginess, Toaster is generous with the laughs. Vivek Daschaudhary’s Hindi film, which is out on Netflix, is an enjoyably silly comedy filled with off-the-wall situations and some daringly outre elements.

Toaster is based on a story by Parveez Shaikh and a screenplay by Shaikh, Akshat...

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