137. Khiladi; movie review

 

KHILADI

Cert TBA

154 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

Oh, what a mess. Khiladi's makers try to tick every box in the thriller genre and wind up succeeding on zero fronts.

Indeed, I still have no idea whether Ravi Teja's character is meant to be a hero or a villain. Or perhaps the point is that he is both.

Who knows?

What I can say is that I felt rather uncomfortable watching the 54-year-old Teja chasing young women.

He plays Mohan Gandhi, a notorious criminal who has been locked up for killing his family, except for his young daughter.

Ramesh Varma's film traces back his story as told to a criminology student, starting from when he was a general manager at a company run by a successful businessman.

He falls in love with a new employee (23-year-old Dimple Hayathi). She responds with encouragement to the bloke who is old enough to be her dad.

I found it amazing that age was not even mentioned when he meets her father (Murali Sharma) who is clearly much younger.

Anyway, I guess the point about the Gandhi character is that he is never quite what he seems.

Is he on the side of good or bad? I still don't know but I can confirm that he does shout loudly and irritatingly for much of the time.

And there is a heck of a lot of shooting.

Actually, I found Khiladi really difficult to follow. It was as if I was missing a switch which would have lifted the veil on it.

Or perhaps it was as simple as Varma's movie just being impenetrable.

Either way, I didn't get it.

Reasons to watch: If you are a Ravi Teja fan

Reasons to avoid: Its storyline is all over the place

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 3/10

Did you know? Three-time Nandi Award winner Ravi Teja made his acting debut with a guest spot on Ravi Raja Pinisetty’s Kannada film ‘Abhimanyu’ in 1990. He continued to work with uncredited appearances in films such as ‘Vandemataram’ (1990), ‘Karthavyam’ (1990), ‘Chaitanya’ (1991), ‘Aaj Ka Goonda Raj’ (1992), ‘Ninne Pelladutha’ (1996) and many more.

The final word. Producer, Satyanarayana Koneru: "When the director, Ramesh Varma, approached me and narrated the story, I liked it instantly and said that Ravi Teja will fit the role. I believed in this story and it will become the biggest hit in Ravi Teja’s career." 123 Telugu

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