Synopsis
Ten thousands of crores of rupees is being used to launder money in India from Italy and is the property of the Home Minister of the state (Mukesh Rishi). The Home Minister devises plans to purchase MLAs with the money to remove the Chief Minister from office. In the meantime, a criminologist Pooja (Meenakshi Chaudhary) goes to the jail to question the prisoner Mohan Gandhi (Ravi Teja) who is being investigated of murdering his spouse (Dimple Hayathi) as well as other family members. Why did he murder his parents and his wife? What is the reason he was inked with the money of the politician?
Performances
Ravi Teja has played the part with ease. He brings energy to the boring character. Arjun is a cop who plays a generic role. Dimple and Meenakshi haven’t shied from flaunting their skin in a liberal manner. Particularly, Dimple has used the occasion to expose her skin to the maximum extent.
Anasuya is also awe-inspiring by her glam act. Vennela Kishore, as well as Murali Sharma have both played their part well.
Behind the scenes
The director Ramesh Varma begins the story of Khiladi with an interesting storyline involving the protagonist being accused of murdering his wife and taking the money. After having watched a myriad of films where the hero is portrayed in two different shades, and has a background story, we can easily conclude that he might not actually committed murder of his wife. However, the initial set-up is intriguing as the writer and directors have started the plot on an interesting note.
Ramesh Varma stuffs the first portion with his usual formula of a fascinating set-up, a lengthy romantic arc on the heroes and heroines (Ravi Teja as well as Dimple Hayathi) as well as an interlude-preparation twist. It’s a familiarity however, the events are enjoyable enough because of some vibrantly executed foot-tapping songs. In actuality the sequences that precede intervals are told in a fascinating manner.
If Ramesh Varma and his writers would have gone about their business in the same manner, the outcome could not have been so awful. For some reason the team has focused much more heavily on twists, and more twists. Nevertheless, the twists are easy to predict and keep appearing throughout the second period, and even in the final part we see at least three twists. This isn’t enough; there’s a hint of the possibility of a sequel which is another twist that’s equally baffling.
In this battle, the film has fallen off the rails, and comes off as a sloppy attempt to create a story without a direction. And logic goes for a toss.
Dual shades of Hero are commonplace, but here we observe other characters that are the same. The characters here don’t inspire us to root for their characters. The hero has no motive, neither which is the biggest drawback.
The silver lining is Devi Sri Prasad who has come up with some rousing numbers. Three songs looked remarkable on the screen as well. Beautiful frames and extravagant production values also need special mention.
Final Verdict
Khiladi is an intriguing drama that attempts to cash on dramatic twists and turns, and the glamour of the heroines, however the lack of proper narration and senseless heroics have made it an uninteresting film to watch.
