Final Round

Irudhi Suttru (Tamil) AKA Saala Khadoos (Hindi) Review: Sports drama revolving around coach student relationship, corrupted sports committee, Ego clash between players, rise-fall, victory- defeat, romancing coach, different levels of match, featuring aspiring sportsmanship and off course Patriotism these are the essential elements of any sports drama flick. So keeping the same formula but yet producing a refreshing film is a tough task to handle? But Director Sudha Kongara has brilliantly worked on the screenplay to keep this film solid and racy till the end. Take a bow Sudha. Excellent work. Casting: Holds important role for keeping us glued to our seats. Brilliant performances by the leads. Especially Madhavan as Prabhu (Tamil version)/Adi Tomar (Hindi version) has portrayed the role of a ruff, gritty, bitter, hard, raw and muscular coach on his 40s. Wonderful Maddy this would be one of your best performances in your career. The lead lady the boxer who comes to live the dreams of her coach is amazingly believable as an experienced actor Well done Ritika singh. Even without knowing Tamil her lip sync was much better than existing Tamil heroines. Well Supported by some known and unknown faces. Technical: Music, Cinematography and Editing are exactly resonating to the script and has in turn helped to elevate the whole movie experience. Verdict: Mary Kom, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Chakde India now Saala khadoos ! Get in for the ultimate boxing ride of this year and let's feel real sportsmanship and patriotism. So what are you waiting for? hit the theatres near you for real boxing the box- office. Dis satisfaction will be knocked out. By Sivakumar Balachandran

A big fan of Madhavan... Loved this one.... Touching Emotional Scenes... Anger of Madhavan & Ritika raises testosterone levels... Story isn't unusual but screenplay and direction is cool... Good Bollywood sports Movie after a long wait.... Songs are melodious... Sudha Kongara launched herself strongly in bollywood as a director... Fight scenes can be done more energetically and some boring scenes could be edited well. Overall I would say that after a long period bollywood gets a good sports movie...

'Saala Khadoos' is A Commendable Effort by Writer-Director Sudha Kongara, which also tunes in strong performances. Its a familiar setting no doubt, but the narrative is interesting & also genuine. 'Saala Khadoos' is The story of a former boxer (R. Madhavan) who quits boxing following a fallout with the authorities over the underlying politics but goes on to coach a fisher-woman (Ritika Singh) to fulfill his dream through her. 'Saala Khadoos' is a yet another story of an Underdog's triumph, despite all the hurdles & struggles. Its fun to watch the Arrogant Khadoos Coach train an equally Fiery Student. Sunanda Raghunathan & Kongara's Screenplay isn't innovative as such, but its well-written & well-paced. Even the dialogue, are real. Kongara's Direction is commendable. Cinematography is fine. Editing is crisp. Santhosh Narayanan's Score is first-class. Performance-Wise: R. Madhavan is terrific. He enacts his part with utmost honesty & conviction. Ritika Singh is brilliant. She makes a smashing debut, matching up to the mighty Madhavan at all times. Nassar is flawless, as always. Mumtaz Sorcar excels. Zakir Hussain is perfect as the antagonist. On the whole, 'Saala Khadoos' is worth watching.

Sports related films very rarely made in Indian film industry. It has a very predictable tale, but still the characters play very genuine performance. I will give 3.5/5. Sometimes you want to watch a movie which has a lot of people, huge rush effects movies. It gives a feeling to watch a rush-type movie when you got super bored occasionally. R. Madhavan a hot fuse and a former boxing champion try to make the name of boxing federation. I think most of the people enjoy this family movie. I like Madhavan's acting, i remember his most of movies due to his best performances, he is very overarching and all-embracing in acting.

Critics have panned Saala Khadoos for being predictable and I wish to defend it. I will do that by drawing comparisons with the hugely praised Airlift. Saala Khadoos is predictable, but not just because it adheres to a formula; more because we have seen and heard of the events it portrays or alludes to – sexual harassment and corruption in sports, throwing away matches, match-fixing, doping, sports quota in government jobs, sibling rivalry, parents living off their daughters. While Airlift glorifies a true story, SK reminds us of shameful truths. In doing so, Airlift takes more cinematic license than SK. Airlift brings out the patriotic pride in us and we feel good at the end. Saala Khadoos exposes the underbelly of our society and we feel guilty of encouraging, if not actively participating in, such divide and discrimination. Saala Khadoos is too melodramatic for its own good. It lacks finesse and screams at you. The background is insufferably loud. But the boxing bouts are staged masterfully. The camera movement conveys the raw energy with great conviction. The romantic attraction between the coach and his ward is handled with great subtlety. Madhavan sheds his chocolate hero image and beefs up to play the maverick and larger than life boxing coach. In comparison Airlift is packaged more attractively, but SK tells us a more uplifting story.

A big fan of Madhavan... Loved this one.... Touching Emotional Scenes... Anger of Madhavan & Ritika raises testosterone levels... Story isn't unusual but screenplay and direction is cool... Good Bollywood sports Movie after a long wait.... Songs are melodious... Sudha Kongara launched herself strongly in bollywood as a director... Fight scenes can be done more energetically and some boring scenes could be edited well. Overall I would say that after a long period bollywood gets a good sports movie...

In these kind of sports movies you already know the story, so the predictability doesn't bother me that much. I watch them for the journey, for the efforts of the characters, and for their magnetism to pull me into cheering for them. This movie lacked in all these aspects. The story is nothing new, same old journey of an underdog player and a coach that has problems with the system. This should have been the weakest link of the movie. Everything else had to be better than this 'done a lot of times' story for this movie to be good, but that's not the case. The screenplay, dialogues, direction, editing, songs, background score and acting, everything seemed forced. It all wanted you to feel that the makers of the movie mean business. That they are making a realistic movie about the problems and harassment faced by women athletes in our sports system. But it failed to evoke those emotions. Every character seemed to be doing things just because the script demanded it. No one seemed to care to connect with the audience. Every scene was just there to make you spoon feed the emotions, be it comedy, drama, or action. The movie lacked a natural flow. It felt as if it was treading a path that was constructed for it. The - not giving a rat's a** about anything other than one player who seems to be bursting of talent - attitude of Madhavan's character was too unreal. Everyone else too seemed to be acting their parts out rather than being the character. The portrayal of how things work in a women's sport in India was clichéd. It didn't make you feel for the poor girls at all. The connection that should've been there by the end of the movie with the player and the coach was not there at all. All in all, it seemed to be a shallow attempt at a story that has been done a lot of times but still has the potential to make your heart feel and cheer for the characters. Pathetic screenplay, poor acting, empty dialogues, shoddy editing, soulless movie. The worst part is that it's rated a 7.7 on IMDb. And that it is in the top 125 Indian movies on the site. I'd like to believe Indian cinema is better than that.

'Saala Khadoos' is A Commendable Effort by Writer-Director Sudha Kongara, which also tunes in strong performances. Its a familiar setting no doubt, but the narrative is interesting & also genuine. 'Saala Khadoos' is The story of a former boxer (R. Madhavan) who quits boxing following a fallout with the authorities over the underlying politics but goes on to coach a fisher-woman (Ritika Singh) to fulfill his dream through her. 'Saala Khadoos' is a yet another story of an Underdog's triumph, despite all the hurdles & struggles. Its fun to watch the Arrogant Khadoos Coach train an equally Fiery Student. Sunanda Raghunathan & Kongara's Screenplay isn't innovative as such, but its well-written & well-paced. Even the dialogue, are real. Kongara's Direction is commendable. Cinematography is fine. Editing is crisp. Santhosh Narayanan's Score is first-class. Performance-Wise: R. Madhavan is terrific. He enacts his part with utmost honesty & conviction. Ritika Singh is brilliant. She makes a smashing debut, matching up to the mighty Madhavan at all times. Nassar is flawless, as always. Mumtaz Sorcar excels. Zakir Hussain is perfect as the antagonist. On the whole, 'Saala Khadoos' is worth watching.

When you have a dream , the only thing you would require to achieve it is through desire and passion. Sport films like Chak De, Mary Kom and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag have successfully introduced the energy and vibes on the silver screen and are gaining popularity in Indian Cinema. Saala Khadoos had all the potential to become a great sport films but is an opportunity gone wasted. Saala Khadoos tells the story of a boxing coach for girls ( played by R.Madhavan) who is falsely accused of a sexual harassment. To prove himself, he discovers and trains a fisher woman ( played by Ritika Singh) who despite being in a different profession has the passion to become a champion.While Sudha Kongara Prasad has already made films in the South (ANDHRA ANDAGADU, DROHI), SAALA KHADOOS marks her directorial debut in Bollywood. She chooses the right subject for her debut but messes the film with loose screenplay. The movie begins with a bang and sets the expectation in the first half. However, the film looses the track with forceful and unintentional scenes. The second half picks up and drama sets rolling out. However, a champion is made with lot of struggle to reach to the top but nothing much was shown in the film. The fight scenes are natural though cold Art direction is fine. Cinematography is outstanding. Dialogues are punching. Songs are disappointing. Madhavan gets into the character of the boxing coach. The supremely talented actor delivers a solid performance. The new finding Ritika SIngh is good. She is mind blowing with her punches and fiery dialogues. She will surprise you in the supporting role. Overall , Saala Khadoos starts with bang but looses the track. Decent 2.75/5. – Ketan Gupta