Saala Khadoos (Hindi)
Director: Sudha Kongara
Cast: R. Madhavan, Ritika Singh, Nassar, Mumtaz Sorcar, Zakir Hussain
The trailer of Saala Khadoos made one fear the worst; the template — a disgraced coach finding redemption in the success of his protégé — seemed an instant throwback to Chak De! India , as did the running theme of corruption in sports officialdom. The only difference is that the game here happens to be boxing, not hockey.
The opening sequence, high on energy and drama, appears to hold a promise that the film might just have a voice and mind of its own. Unfortunately, it proves to be a short-lived assurance.
What follows is a shrill melodrama set against a rather hastily put together, synthetic poverty backdrop. On facing unsubstantiated sexual harassment charges, boxing coach Adi Tomar (Madhavan) is sent off from Hisar to Chennai where he finds a potential champion in Madi (Ritika), whose sister Lux (Mumtaz), part of the boxing team, is trying to get a police job with her sports credentials.
Neither girl seems to belong to the underprivileged world they are supposed to come from. Mainstream films are all about suspension of disbelief, but only if you can connect with the characters, their provocations and destinies. Here , you remain eminently disinterested.
Sentimentality in narration takes over the essential sports. At some point you wonder if this is a film about boxing bouts or the guru-shishya relationship. The emotional turnarounds are unconvincing, contrived and excessive. The climax is far from rousing. The bilingual film does an interesting experiment by bridging the north-south divide to reach out to a bigger chunk of the audience.
The central characters might be nicely defined on paper but the performances are set a few notes too high. It is good to see old-timers Nasser and M.K. Raina, but they are made to do righteous turns. Zakir Hussain as the rapacious coach stands out despite the predictable villainous turn. Madhavan puts on a lot of bulk, and is dependable as usual, but sparks refuse to fly between him and new girl Ritika. Saala Khadoos is unable to rise above the predictability and time-worn clichés of average sports movies.
—Namrata Joshi
At some point you wonder if this is a film about boxing bouts or the guru-shishya relationship
