JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Khiladi Movie Review: This bloated film could have been less knotty
Mohan Gandhi (Ravi Teja), who is a white-collar employee with a loving family, is thrown into this murky, dark world when his long-time guardian is haunted by the villains.
Cast: Ravi Teja, Dimple Hayathi and others
Director: Ramesh Varma P
Run-Time: 154 minutes
Rating: 2/5
'Khiladi' is a template-driven film if you care to scratch the surface. It's just that the writing department seeks to fortify the formulaic story by structuring the film in a less-than-routine manner in the first half. That's why you see Ravi Teja's character getting introduced as a fun-loving, innocent and wronged youngster who is currently serving a jail term. As the story progresses, the proceedings acquire flab. In fact, too much flab.
An international mafia gang has laundered Rs 10,000 crores to Hyderabad. A political heavyweight has to get hold of it in order to realize his political ambitions. A criminal element is also on the prowl to know its whereabouts. Mohan Gandhi (Ravi Teja), who is a white-collar employee with a loving family, is thrown into this murky, dark world when his long-time guardian is haunted by the villains. Why has Gandhi been dragged into the mess? Who is Gandhi and does he have an ulterior motive?
If you have watched the trailer, you would know that Gandhi is a master of treachery. He has a secret past filled with intrigues and his mission has been powered by a semi-comical team that knows how to crack anything under the sun. Ravi Teja's performance may not be alluring but the actor marshals the inner Mass Maharaja with confidence. He doesn't 'Krack' us up, but this Ravi Teja is better than the Ravi Teja of 'Amar Akbar Anthony' and 'Disco Raja'.
Devi Sri Prasad's massy beats are sexed up by oomph-y choreography. 'Catch Me' and 'Ishtam' stand out. 'Attasudake' and 'Khiladi' should have been better. The film doesn't know how to place the songs without affecting the pace. Two songs follow in quick succession.
Despite the weight of a string of plot points and a contingent of grey characters flipping in and out of the story, 'Khiladi' doesn't go for too many fights. The focus is more on dialogues (by Srikanth Vissa). That's why the writing should have been smart. Instead, it's lazy in the second half. The protagonist whips up stellar tricks with great ease. Adamant, powerful people who will go to any extent are all subservient to the protagonist's unreal intelligence and surreal knack. The system is a joke because Mohan Gandhi knows how to make it a joke.
The last 25 minutes are a washout. The hero's character is sought to be sanitized and humanized. After a point, we don't care much about whose motives are real and whose motives are surreal!
Cinematographers GK Vishnu and Sujith Vassudev do a routine job. The performances are sometimes over-the-top. Ravi Teja, Dimple Hayathi and Meenakshi Chaudhary hold their ground well, while Arjun Sarja and others pass muster. Thakur Anup Singh is better than the likes of Sachin Khedekar and Unni Mukundan. Arjun Sarja plays an upright investigator who uses the maximum number of muted words in his first scene. The editor should have taken a cue from the scene to mute a couple of subplots!
