Saala Khadoos (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – The story of a former boxer who quits boxing following a fallout with the authorities over the underlying politics but goes on to coach a fisherwoman to fulfill his dream through her.

My Take – Once upon a time films based on sports where a rare thing in India, but that doesn’t seem the case nowadays. Films such as Chakde India & Bhaag Milka Bhaag are some fine examples of excellent depiction in Bollywood. But when we talk about boxing, the only films which come to my mind are Apne (I know an odd choice) & Mary Kom, however I wasn’t a huge fan of either films while most of India was going gaga over them, mainly because in my opinion, the essence of the sport seemed to have been overshadowed by the presence of ‘stars’ in the lead roles, despite them (especially Priyanka Chopra in Mary Kom) pouring their hearts out to deliver such performances. However with this film’s release, I can’t say the same. That is because this film is an endearing, heartwarming and an inspirational film. The film actually promotes women boxing. Coming from the Raj Kumar Hirani stable (he produced it) one can also see the great social message his usual list of films like 3 Idiots & the Munna Bhai series provide. This film is everything a sports film should be the story is endearing, one feels for the characters, its inspirational because its a story of an underdog, its heartwarming because the girl is from a poor family. This film releases simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil (Irudhi Suttru). It is inspired from many true events existing in the field of sports in our country. The film even goes into the nitty gritty and talks about boxing and the politics, the sexual exploitation that come with the game. Director Sudha Kongara Prasad must be applauded for making a detailed, good movie on boxing in India, one can see the great effort.

Even the films run-time at 1hr 50 min is perfect as the film never lags, its very fast paced and right to the point, the film is destined to win the hearts of its audience, but to a certain extent. The story follows Adi Tomar (R Madhavan), an eccentric, arrogant ex boxer and now aggressive boxing coach is moved due to Chennai after being falsely accused of sexual harassment by Chairman of the board & his ex coach Dev Khatri (Zakir Hussain). Upon reaching there, he meets boxer Laxmi aka Lax (Mumtaz Sorcar) & her fisher woman sister Madhi (Ritika Singh). After seeing Madhi get into physical fight with the judges of a local boxing match, Adi decides to be a mentor to Madhi. So begins a partnership between a man who loves his sport and a girl who loves her freedom. It is the beginning of a beautiful friendship and a journey towards an impossible dream. Although the story is predictable, it is interesting to see how the events unfold. How did the relationship between Adi and Madhi shape up? Does the conviction of Adi about Madhi prove right ? How does Laxmi respond to the fact that her sister Madhi is a much better boxer than her? Does Dev sit back idle even after transferring Adi to Chennai or he starts another game? What efforts Dev take to malign the attempt of Adi to train Madhi to be a great boxer ? What happens in the end? Does the love of sport dominate at the end? The film explores the Mentor-Mentee relationship and the background chosen to share the story is that of boxing. Director Sudha is good at her craft, she infuses realism into the film. The film projects the irregularities happening in the sports council, selecting sports personnel for various competitions on the basis of whims and fancies of influential selectors, selectors’ as king for favors from the female sports personnel etc. One thing which I felt was the characters could have been explored much more deeply. In Mary Kom, the background was same i.e. boxing, where the characters and their relationships, be it Mary Kom’s relationship with her mentor, or husband or father all was explored deeply. In Chak De, coach Kabir Khan’s relationships with his juniors were projected beautifully. Another film Bhag Milkha Bhag had lot of depth. Be it Mary Kom, Chak De or Bhag Milkha Bhag, tragedy and triumphs did spark an emotional deluge which was missing in the film (except the last scene and a few other scenes). Plus the film is very predictable, from when the film starts till the end you knows going to happen, especially if you have seen the trailer. The film also is way too melodramatic, and at any given moment someone is yelling, crying, and even falling in love.

There is no normalcy at times. The whole love track was also not needed. Maybe the director tried to commercialize the film, which in my opinion was not a good idea for such kind of a film. In spite of this, the film has its own moments. Mainly due to the lethal chemistry between the leads. The coach and boxer, act like fish to water together, together on screen the are just so entertaining to watch together. There bickering, and battering is hilarious! Despite all the drawbacks the film comes out as a landmark as a very watchable sports drama. I don’t know why time and again boxing has been a popular choice among filmmakers. Boxing has been featured in more movies than even cricket. Now, that’s remarkable considering the status of the sport in India. Surely there is something in boxing; the grit, the killer instinct that makes viewers sit on the edge of their seats. The director has done a right thing in selecting Ritika Singh as the lead, she is actually a mixed martial artist, has represented India in 2009 Asian indoor games. She has executed the role of a perfect angry young girl. An actress to look out for! Madhavan has definitely portrayed Adi very well. Media reports say that he took special training for this film and also lost / gained weight for his role’s sake. Finally a role which helps him break away from his chocolate, well- mannered gentleman kind of roles. Zakir Hussain as Dev Khatri is indeed good. Nasser as always has slipped into his character of Pandian, junior coach, effortlessly. Mumtaz Sorcar, though has a smaller role, has done well. Rest of the cast has also given good performances. On the whole, ‘Saala Khadoos’ may not seem like a novel approach, but with strong chemistry lighting up the screen, the film ends up being a honest attempt at highlighting and presenting a good story that should be told.