Irudhi Suttru Review

Another sports film.

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Madhavan’s ( Middle Aged Coach) act crackles with far more tension than what Shah Rukh Khan brought to a similar role in Chak De India. This is Madhavan’s career-defining performance. He sinks so deep into his role both physically and emotionally, that the actor becomes one with the act, the dancer and the dance, the sports and player merge and melt into one another with a soul-stirring fluency.

Regrettably, a wispiness and, even worse, a weariness creeps into the lengthy narrative specially when the girl begins her embarrassing seduction act over her coach. I held my breath for the seduction song which luckily didn’t come. It’s all charted territory explored by two adventurous players who certainly deserved a more rewarding journey with many more bends and curves.

It’s not as if the writer-director plays it safe all the way. There are some moments in the film when the combustive energy of the mentor and the protégée threatens to flare up into something impressively explosive. But the big moments are squandered in stereotypical exchange of insults, not quite adding up to the life-giving food for thought that you hope and pray the film would eventually turn out to be.

Saala Khadoos is an unabashed unapologetic film, whose two main characters’ graph moves together from the opposite sides of the moral arc. While he's gruff, cynical and burnt-out, she is raw, eager and stepping out into the big wide world. We both know they would find their redemption together. It’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Saala Khadoos promised a rugged sports film, and it delivers. The film, though lengthy, never makes a dull watch. Sathish Suriya’s editing is sharp. It takes away the rough edges from some of the awkwardly written scenes, where the lines seem to be borrowed from rejected episodes of Chandrakanta.

But let’s salute the film’s third hero. Sivkumar Vijayan’s camerawork glides across the simmering surfaces capturing the anger frustration and bitterness of Madhavan’s character before moving inwards to peer into the anatomy of human failure and redemption.

Analysis : This is completely Madhavan's performance Knock-Out.