When Professor Ball-Phillips announced in class that we would be going to watch a Bollywood film for our first field trip, I was very excited. As a result, on Tuesday evening, I hopped into a classmate’s car heading to Fun Asia, a movie theater in Richardson. The film we were going to watch was called Saala Khadoos, and the trailer led me to expect a lot of dancing, comedy, and dramatic scenes.
When we arrived at Fun Asia, my first impression of the place was that it was not fun at all. It appeared to be a mediocre, quiet, and somewhat empty movie theater with posters pasted onto the wall in an attempt to brighten up the place. However, my mood immediately improved when I saw that they were selling samosas and chaat, Indian street food, at the counter, instead of your typical hotdogs and fries. Having previously been to India a couple of years ago, I’ve discovered that I love Indian food, so I ordered two large, hot, fried samosas, filled with potatoes and fragrant spices, and headed to my seat to watch the movie.
Saala Khadoos, in short, is a film about a boxer, Adi, who is wrongly accused of crime he did not commit and sent to a rural area as a boxing coach. While there, he sees great promise in a fishmonger named Madhi, and begins to train her to box. After many struggles, fights, and even romantic problems, Madhi wins the World Boxing Championship with the help of Adi, despite obstacles posed by others trying to gain power and mixing politics with sports.
Although there weren’t any dancing scenes with a huge crowd and perfectly choreographed moves, there was plenty of comedy with the characters’ hilarious antics and sass. I also saw a great deal of drama, especially in the scenes between Adi and Madhi, when she develops feelings for him, and he struggles to accept his own emotions towards her.
Additionally, I also learned a bit more about the role female boxing plays in Indian culture from a friend who watched the film with my class. In India, one of the ways to escape poverty and earn money to support a family is to become a policewoman. Madhi’s older sister, Lux, who is also a boxing student, attempts to become a policewoman, and in order to do that, she must pass a physical test with flying colors. By becoming an incredible boxer, not only would Lux receive a good job, but she would also be placed into a higher position within the police force.
After the movie was over, I searched for interesting details about the film Saala Khadoos on the Internet, and I discovered that it was shot in two languages. According to the Times of India, the main actor R. Madhavan wanted to have Saala Khadoos filmed in Tamil and Hindi simultaneously, a great challenge accomplished by the director and the crew. (http://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/R-Madhavan-It-was-my-idea-to-make-Saala-Khadoos-in-Tamil-too/articleshow/50589543.cms)
Overall, the first history field trip was a great success, in my opinion. I had a wonderful time, ate delicious Indian samosas, and truly enjoyed the movie’s themes of boxing, comedy, and romance.