THE VVAAN Force of the Forrest

The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest (2026) — Sidharth Malhotra & Tamannaah Bhatia’s fantasy thriller. Cast, story, release date & full details inside.

Bollywood is stepping into rarely explored territory this September with The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest, a folklore-driven fantasy thriller that pairs Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia together on screen for the very first time. Backed by some of the biggest names in Indian entertainment and wrapped in mystery, mythology, and menace, The Vvaan has quickly become one of the most talked-about titles on the 2026 release calendar. Here is a complete breakdown of the film — its story, cast, crew, production background, and everything that makes it stand out from a typical Hindi film release.

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Release Date and Basic Details

The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest is scheduled to hit theatres across India on September 25, 2026. The announcement of the release date was made on the auspicious occasion of Chhath Puja in 2024, giving the project an early and memorable launch moment nearly two years ahead of its actual release. The film falls under the action, fantasy, mystery, and thriller genres, and it is made in Hindi, positioning it for a wide theatrical rollout across the country.

The project is often stylised simply as “Vvaan” or “The VVAAN” in promotional material, with the full title — The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest — used consistently across trailers, posters, and official listings.

The Story: A Forbidden Forest and a Rational Man

At the heart of The Vvaan is a premise that blends everyday scepticism with ancient belief. The film follows an urban, rationally-minded man who returns to his ancestral village and ends up crossing into a forbidden forest — a place governed by an old and chilling rule that no one is allowed to enter after sunset. His encounter with the forest inadvertently awakens a divine goddess who has been waiting within it, and from that point on, the protagonist is pulled into a world where logic no longer offers any answers.

What follows is a journey in which the lead character must reconcile his rational worldview with forces far beyond ordinary explanation. He is transformed from a sceptical outsider into the unlikely protector of his village, tasked with shielding its people from an impending threat tied directly to the forest’s secrets. The setup draws heavily on rural Indian folklore and the widespread belief systems surrounding sacred groves and forest deities that still hold cultural significance in many parts of the country.

Interestingly, the film’s inspiration is rooted in real folklore. The Vvaan draws from stories associated with the Van Devi Temple near Patna, Bihar, although the makers have been clear that the narrative itself — the characters, the specific mythology of “the Vvaan,” and the events of the plot — is a work of fiction rather than a direct retelling of any documented legend. This blending of a real cultural touchstone with an original fantasy narrative gives the film a grounded, folk-horror-adjacent texture that separates it from more conventional superhero-style fantasy films coming out of Bollywood.

The Cast: A Fresh Pairing and a Strong Ensemble

The film’s biggest draw is undoubtedly its lead pairing. Sidharth Malhotra, known for films spanning war dramas to action franchises, takes on the central role of the sceptical city man drawn into the forest’s mystery. Tamannaah Bhatia plays Mamta, his wife, who is described as a firm believer in the divine — a contrast that mirrors the film’s core tension between rationalism and faith. This marks the first time the two actors have shared the screen together, which has generated significant curiosity among fans of both stars.

Rounding out the cast is a strong ensemble of well-known character actors:

• Sunil Grover takes on a role unlike much of his earlier comedic work, playing a menacing antagonist — a notable departure that has drawn attention in early promotional coverage.
• Shweta Tiwari joins the cast in a supporting role.
• Maniesh Paul is also part of the ensemble, adding to the film’s blend of drama and lighter moments.
• Anup Soni, known for his baritone and presence in thriller-oriented projects, rounds out the principal supporting cast.

This mix of a fresh romantic pairing at the centre and a seasoned supporting cast around them gives The Vvaan a broad appeal, spanning fans of Malhotra’s action-hero image, Bhatia’s pan-Indian stardom, and the loyal audiences that follow character actors like Grover, Tiwari, Soni, and Paul.

Behind the Camera: Direction, Writing, and Crew

The Vvaan is directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra, a name closely associated with the acclaimed streaming series Panchayat. His involvement brings an interesting sensibility to the project — a director known for grounded, slice-of-life storytelling now stepping into large-scale fantasy filmmaking. Some listings credit Arunabh Kumar as co-director as well, alongside his role as the film’s writer.

The story, screenplay, and writing credit for The Vvaan goes to Arunabh Kumar, with dialogue written by Anandeshwar Dwivedi. Cinematography and visual direction are handled by Manu Anand, who serves as the film’s Director of Photography and Visual Director — a dual credit that signals the importance the makers have placed on the film’s visual world-building, particularly given its forest-bound, mythological setting.

Editing duties fall to Nitin Baid, a name recognised for his work on several acclaimed Hindi films, while Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborty handle production design — a crucial role for a film centred so heavily on an atmospheric, sacred-forest environment.

The Production Banners Behind The Vvaan

The film carries serious industry weight in its production line-up. It is produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ektaa R Kapoor of Balaji Motion Pictures, alongside Arunabh Kumar and Niraj Kothari. The film is presented by Balaji Telefilms in association with TVF Motion Pictures Productions, and is an 11:11 Productions production. Vimal Doshi serves as co-producer and COO on the project.

This combination is notable: Balaji Motion Pictures brings decades of experience in mainstream Hindi cinema and television, while TVF (The Viral Fever) is better known for grounded, writing-driven digital content — the same combination of sensibilities reflected in director Deepak Kumar Mishra’s move from Panchayat to a big-canvas fantasy film. The pairing suggests The Vvaan is aiming to balance spectacle with a strong narrative core, rather than leaning purely on visual effects.

Music and Sound

The Vvaan’s music is being composed by a multi-composer team featuring Vishal Mishra, Amit Trivedi, Tanishk Bagchi, and Sam CS — a line-up that spans romantic balladry, indie-inflected soundscapes, mass melodies, and atmospheric background scoring. Sam CS, in particular, is known for his work on intense, folklore- and horror-adjacent South Indian films, and his inclusion suggests the makers are keen to give the forest and its mythology a distinct sonic identity separate from the film’s more conventional musical numbers.

Teaser Reception and Marketing Rollout

The first teaser for The Vvaan was unveiled to notable attention, simultaneously confirming the film’s September 25 release date. Sidharth Malhotra shared the teaser on social media with a caption that translates roughly to describing the protagonist as a guardian who rides a tiger — a nod to the film’s divine, mythological imagery. The makers also confirmed that a second teaser was on the way, indicating a staged marketing rollout rather than a single trailer drop.

Early reactions to the teaser have highlighted its restraint as a strength: rather than revealing the full scope of the forest’s mystery or the nature of the antagonist’s threat, the teaser leans into atmosphere and unanswered questions. Reviewers have noted that this approach — offering glimpses of the sacred forest, its supernatural inhabitants, and the central “force” of the title without over-explaining the plot — has successfully built curiosity ahead of the full release. The film has also been described as a departure for Malhotra, whose recent work includes the romantic comedy Param Sundari, making The Vvaan a tonal shift back toward high-stakes, effects-driven storytelling.

Prime Video reportedly highlighted The Vvaan as one of its significant upcoming film slate titles, suggesting a life for the film beyond its theatrical run through a streaming release down the line, though theatrical distribution remains the primary release strategy for now.

Why The Vvaan Stands Out in 2026’s Release Calendar

Hindi cinema has periodically experimented with folklore-based fantasy, but films that combine sacred-grove mythology, forest deities, and a rational-versus-spiritual character conflict remain relatively rare compared to the more common historical epics or urban dramas. The Vvaan’s central hook — a modern, logical man forced to become a protector because of a mistake rooted in disrespecting ancestral belief — taps into a familiar cultural anxiety in India: the tension between rapid urbanisation and rural traditions that are slowly fading from collective memory.

The choice to base the film’s mythology loosely on the real Van Devi Temple near Patna also grounds the fantasy in something recognisable to large sections of the Hindi-speaking audience, without confining the story to a strict retelling of any specific legend. This gives the writers creative freedom while still tapping into an emotional resonance that pure invention might lack.

Combined with a lead pairing that is entirely new to audiences, a supporting cast built around recognisable character actors playing against type — particularly Sunil Grover in a villainous role — and a production team spanning both mainstream Bollywood banners and digital-content specialists, The Vvaan enters the market with a distinct identity. It isn’t positioned as a conventional romance, nor purely as a horror film, but as a folklore-rooted thriller with elements of both.

Release Details at a Glance

• Title: The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest
• Release Date: September 25, 2026
• Genre: Action, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
• Language: Hindi
• Director: Deepak Kumar Mishra (with Arunabh Kumar credited on some listings)
• Writer: Arunabh Kumar
• Dialogue: Anandeshwar Dwivedi
• Lead Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Tamannaah Bhatia
• Supporting Cast: Sunil Grover, Shweta Tiwari, Maniesh Paul, Anup Soni
• Cinematography/Visual Direction: Manu Anand
• Editor: Nitin Baid
• Production Design: Amit Ray, Subrata Chakraborty
• Music: Vishal Mishra, Amit Trivedi, Tanishk Bagchi, Sam CS
• Producers: Shobha Kapoor, Ektaa R Kapoor, Arunabh Kumar, Niraj Kothari
• Banners: Balaji Motion Pictures, TVF Motion Pictures Productions, 11:11 Productions

Final Word

With its September 25, 2026 release date approaching, The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest has positioned itself as one of the more distinctive Hindi film releases of the year — driven by a fresh lead pairing, a folklore-inspired premise, and a production team that blends mainstream commercial filmmaking with a more writing-first sensibility. Whether it fully delivers on the mystery its teasers have carefully built up will only become clear once the film reaches theatres, but the early buzz around its atmosphere, cast, and central concept has already made it one of the more anticipated titles of the season.