BOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEWS

SAALA KHADOOS

Cast: R Madhavan, Ritika Singh, Sorcar, Zakir Hussain, Nasser, MK Raina
Direction: Sudha Kongara
Ratings:(3/5)

A disgruntled coach past the prime of his life. A quarrelsome girl who doesn't realise what she is capable of. Politics in women's boxing and all that. Sudha Kongara's Saala Khadoos presents a sense of been-there-seen-that, but that was evident right from the moment the trailer hit the tube. So why watch this tale which makes you feel like you're in the middle of a Chak De India-Mary Kom mishmash?

The answer is R Madhavan. And Ritika Singh. And every other actor who has put in their heartfelt performances to help this film rise above mediocrity.

Women's boxing coach Adi (Madhavan) and selection panel head Dev (Zakir Hussain) can't see each other in the eye without breaking out into a fight. A sting operation of sorts on Adi reveals how Dev had betrayed him and resulted in the end of his career. Dev, on his part, gets Adi framed on sexual harassment charges and gets him transferred to Chennai from Hisar. Chennai is among the worst-ranked areas when it comes to boxing. Burdened with the task of 'finding talent' from the Tamil Nadu capital, Adi scoots off to the land of and .

This is when he sets his eyes on Madhi (Ritika Singh), the younger sister of Laxmi (Mumtaz Sorcar), the best woman boxer in Chennai. Adi notices what Madhi is capable of and bears all her tantrums and fights to train her, to make her a champion. The road, of course, is paved with more thorns than imaginable.

Madhavan puts heart, soul, sweat and muscles into his performance, making the 'Khadoos Buddha' real. His Adi is foul-tempered, cannot tolerate nonsense in the name of boxing and is ready to walk all lengths to ensure his prodigy gets to prove herself. Newcomer Ritika Singh is terrific as the forever kicking-punching-fighting Madhi.

Mumtaz Sorcar tries her best to get into the skin of her Laxmi, but fades in front of her feisty reel-sister Madhi. The rest of the supporting cast helps Madhavan and Ritika outdo them. From Zakir Hussain's menacing, scheming Dev to Nasser's 'Junior Coach', all performances fit aptly in this symphony conducted by the coach-student duo.

It is largely due to the sheer brilliance of Madhavan and Ritika's work that Saala Khadoos is saved from falling into the abyss of predictability, which it dangerously teeters on the edge of.

Sudha Kongara's story and direction is commendable, but the abundance of songs feels tedious and harms the pace of the story. In the first half an hour, for example, there are about three odd songs. Within the boxing ring, Saala Khadoos seems so much like Mary Kom that there's a distinct sense of deja vu. Kongara tries to keep her story real, but there is an abundance of over-emotional sequences.

The camerawork is praiseworthy. Sivakumar Vijayan's cinematography is well-done, be it in the fish markets of Chennai or the greenery of Dharamshala.

Santhosh Narayan leaves the audience with several hummable tracks, at the cost of hampering the flow of the story, though. Jhalli Patakha and the Saala Khadoos title track stand out from among the rest of the songs.

At the end of the day, Saala Khadoos works because of the performances by its cast. Maybe the scene would have been a bit different had Omung Kumar's Mary Kom not been released just a year-and-a-half ago. Watch Saala Khadoos for its lead actors.

SOURCE: INDIA TODAY

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