Release date:
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January 29, 2016
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Director:
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Sudha Kongara
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Cast:
Language:
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R. Madhavan,
Ritika Singh, Mumtaz Sorcar, Nassar, Zakir Hussain, M.K. Raina,
Baljinder Kaur, Kaali Venkat
Hindi
|
The rise of the
underdog is a favourite theme in sports films. Yet, Saala Khadoos manages to tell us something more than we thought we
already knew.
R. Madhavan here
plays Adi Tomar, an ill-tempered retired boxer whose career in the ring was
ruined when his corrupt coach conspired to end it. Now a coach himself, he
discovers a cantankerous young fish seller from the slums of Chennai and sees in
her a potential world champion. Ezhil Madhi (debutant Ritika Singh) is destined
for greatness, but to get there she must first overcome her extreme poverty, an
alcoholic father, family tensions, her own foul temperament, her self-destructive
impetuosity, politics in Indian sports and sexual harassment.
Saala Khadoos is a Hindi first for director Sudha Kongara who made
her screenwriting debut with the National Award-winning English film Mitr, My Friend (2002). This latest
venture was shot simultaneously in Tamil as Irudhi
Suttru.
Half her battle for
this film has been won with the casting. Ritika is a professional kickboxer,
which explains why her scenes in the ring seem so effortless here. She is also
a natural before the camera, and – this is especially disarming – not obviously
conscious of her sweet face.
Ritika is not the
only one who looks like a real person rather than an actor in the film. Mumtaz
Sorcar playing Madhi’s elder sister Luxmi, Baljinder Kaur and Kaali Venkat as her
messed-up parents from a mixed marriage all appear as if they were plucked out
of a Chennai shanty and planted in Saala
Khadoos.
Leading them ably
in a role far removed from the wimp he plays in the Tanu Weds Manu films is Madhavan. Adi is constantly on edge when he
is not in the midst of a self-induced explosion and Maddy plays him just right.
His frustration, bitterness, irritability and anger come across as believable at
all times, rather than exaggerated for effect.
Besides, he looks
incredibly cute with that beard and fluffy, wild hairdo, which is quite an
achievement considering that he is the bloody groucho of the film’s title.
Among the
high-profile supporting players are Nassar as junior coach Pandian in Chennai who
has a love-hate relationship with Adi, M.K. Raina as Adi’s supportive senior
back in Delhi and Zakir Hussain as Dev Khatri, the predator who authored our
hero’s exit from the ring and is now targeting Madhi. The veterans ace their
roles in a film brimming over with talent.
In terms of performances
then, the natural progression of events in the sporting arena, the execution of
its boxing scenes, production design and locations, Saala Khadoos has an authentic feel to it. It falters on other fronts
though. The film could have done without so many songs. The volume of those
numbers and, in places, the background score should have been lowered. And the
romantic angle, needless as it is, required better handling.
In a country where
mainstream cinema is populated with heroes who have been known to play screen
teens when they’re in their 30s and 40s, where Madhavan himself at the age of about
38 played a college kid in 3 Idiots, no
doubt it is a pleasure to hear Adi tell Madhi, “Main tere baap ki umar ka hoon,” when she professes her love for
him in her typical rough-hewn fashion. The film would have been served better
if that element had not been introduced in the first place though, or having
brought up the point, if the story had at least just left it at that.
Some of the beauty
in Chak De! India (2007) – one of the
best Hindi sports films ever made – came from its absolute clarity that hockey
coach Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) does not get romantically involved with
players Preeti Sabharwal (Sagarika Ghatge) and Vidya Sharma (Vidya Malvade) at
least as long as we are with them on screen. After all, every male and female
lead do not necessarily have to fall for each other, and it was such a joy to see
a film acknowledge that two people of the opposite sex can be something to each
other other than lovers. Saala Khadoos
leaves most things unsaid on that front in its finale, but even the hint of
things to come dilutes the story it is trying to tell.
And a crucial story
this is. The insidious manner in which officials pursue their personal agendas
through India’s sporting federations is widely known yet more shocking with
each telling. The story of a player-coach team blossoming amidst institutional
muck, Saala Khadoos rises above the
ordinary with its detailing, including the turns in Madhi’s relationship with
her sister, the scenes with her parents, Dev Khatri’s chilling shenanigans and
the vulnerability of women in particular in this exploitative system. The
film’s many impactful satellite characters stay on in the memory even as Madhi
throws her last, very very satisfying, well-aimed punch.
So yes, it needed
to tone down its pitch in places and stay more focused, but there is so much to
recommend Saala Khadoos. The fact
that it is a sports film is reason enough to pop open the champagne since the
genre is too rarely visited in Hindi cinema. As with most such films, the final
outcome in the ring is not hard to predict here. The journey to that moment though
is emotionally engaging and, after a point, nerve-wracking enough to draw
cheers of delight. Adi and Madhi are worth investing in. That’s what makes this
film worth watching.
Rating
(out of five stars): ***
CBFC Rating (India):
|
UA
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Running time:
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109 minutes
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