When hearing our class was going to see a Bollywood movie I expected over the top dancing, singing and drama. However, in Saala Khadoos, I did not get what I expected. There were some songs and dance that were enjoyable, and, most definitely, some “soap-opera hysterics,” (http://www.thenational.ae/arts-life/film/film-review-saala-khadoos-will-knock-you-out-with-its-dull-characterisation) but Saala Khadoos was a movie that intended to reach far beyond just the stereotypical Bollywood film. This movie attempted to comment on corruption, politics, sexism, poverty, and gender roles in Indian society. While doing this, it also tried to be a light-hearted, funny film that shared a simple story about boxing.
In my opinion, this movie delivered far below what it attempted to do. The movie was sporadic. For instance, it would move from a solemn scene displaying poverty to cracking a joke that did not aid the plot nor the audience in laughing. The movie could have been better if it chose to either make a statement about society or chose to be a light-hearted comedy that displayed two “Khadoos” (meaning “snobs” http://www.bollymeaning.com/2016/01/sala-khadoos-meaning.html). Because of its sporadic nature, the movie was unable to focus on one thing. Rather, it jumped from scene to scene and did not leave its audience enough time to wrestle with the conflicts presented in the film.
The movie plot was simple enough: a too-cool-for-school boxing coach (Adi, as played by R. Madhavan) stumbles upon an irritable, stubborn fisherwoman (Madhi, as played by Ritika Singh) who has unbelievable, raw talent. Adi takes this young boxer under his wing and trains her. In training Madhi, Adi has certain ulterior motives as he wishes to rekindle his own personal career through this girl. But, as the plot thickens, this dynamic duo develops a distinct master-student relationship where they both grow to look out for each other’s well-being. Despite multiple unbelievable setbacks, this misunderstood pair eventually prove successful by beating the Russian and, more importantly, the corrupt boxing system.
Although the acting by this pair was fair (I mean look at Madhavan’s face, doesn’t he look snobbish to you? 
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/saala-khadoos-trailer-intense-r-madhavan-rocks-it-as-the-boxing-coach/story-kXHFyH6KQWiW9ugA7XtsfP.html) a deeper message was not delivered. Poverty was seen, sexism was seen, even corruption was seen. Multiple relevant issues within Indian society were seen, however, they were not felt at an emotional level. Granted, there were some solemn moments that made me reflect. Yet, even so, these moments were not at the level that the movie intended. There were ample moments for this movie to connect at an emotional level with the audience it just failed at doing so.
Not everything in the movie was bad. Overall, I’m glad I went as I had a fun movie experience despite being underwhelmed by the film. I would go back to Fun Asia just to try more of the food. Generally, I would not recommend this film for a person to see. However, if one wanted to watch a cliché boxing film where a stereotypical, disenfranchised duo beat the odds, then I might recommend it. On another note, don’t go if you want to watch good boxing scenes. The film had some boxing but not the amount that I expected. Also, many of these fights lacked intensity.
-Patrick Hosch