After a significant time away from the silverscreen, R Madhavan is back with his hard hitting sports drama Saala Khadoos. This much awaited film has hit the screens today. So let’s find out, whether ‘Saala Khadoos’ will be an inspired version of ‘Mary Kom’ , 'Chak de' or might sail on its own merits.
 
Story:-
 
‘Saala Khadoos’, is a story of an arrogant boxing coach Adi Tomar (R.Madhavan), who is transferred to Chennai by the head of female boxing association Dev (Zakir Hussain). Adidecides to find a talented boxer in Chennai so that he can prove his ability as a coach.
 
One fine day, Adi comes across a fisher woman named Madhie( Rithika Singh) who has a hidden talent of boxing. He some how manages to convince her and starts coaching her. This is also the time when Madhie’s sister who is also an upcoming boxer plots against Madhie.
 
Some untoward incidents happen and Madhie is thrown out of an important match. This upsets Adi big time and he kicks Madhie out of his life. Rest of the story is as to how Madhie regains her lost glory and wins the confidence of her coach back.
 
Positive Points:-
 
Undoubtedly, both Madhavan and Rithika are the heart and soul of the film. Madhavan means business and goes about his role with a lot of heart. The way he has bulked up and carried away his character role is quite interesting. The way Maddy showcases his frustrations in important scenes speaks volumes about his acting.
 
Ritika Singh is a huge find. The talented actress brings life into the character of Madhi and performs to the best of her capabilities. All her combination scenes with Madhavan and the chemistry they share is pretty good. Nasser Hussain is impeccable as the villainous coach and brings the house down on fire.
 
Negative Points:-
 
One of the biggest drawback of Sala Khadoos is that it has a huge hangover of SRK’s Chak De India. Right from the sports premise to the non supportive players, you are bound to remember that flick time and again.
 
The so called matches that are showcased lack the necessary punch and emotions. They are hurried on to us and that makes things a bit unbearable at times. Other than Maddy and Ritika, rest of the supporting cast are below average.
 
There are several logics which go missing in the film. Also, the romance that is showcased between Maddy and Ritika looks forced and hurried on to us.
 
Technical Points:-
 
There is nothing new in terms of story line but, it’s the screenplay and the performances, which makes this movie stand tall on its own merits.
 
Music by Santhosh Narayanan is good, especially ‘Saala Khadoos’, ‘Jhalli Patakha’, ‘Jagaa Khunnas’ and ‘Dil Ye Ladaku’. The background music is of top notch and works in the favour of the film. Camera work is pretty good as it nicely showcases the boxing atmosphere and rural areas of Chennai. Screenplay is pretty good as the film has decent narration and is made straight from the heart.
 
Coming to the director Sudha Kongara, she manages to extract some brilliant performances from R Madhavanand and Ritika Singh. She presents the movie with an emotional angle attached to it. There could have been more light or dramatic moments in the middle portion of the film. 
 
Last Word:-
 
On the whole, Sala Khadhoos is a honest approach towards attempting realistic cinema. If you ignore the Chak De effect in the movie and go with the flow of the film, you can easily watch this film for its hard hitting drama. The movie boasts of some good music and great performances and is a perfect combo of performance & punches