Khiladi 786

What does one say of a comedy where you can laugh at precisely one moment?

Namrata Joshi

Updated on: 7 February 2024 5:34 pm

Khiladi 786

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Asin, Mithun Chakraborty, Himesh Reshamiyya
Directed by Ashish Mohan
Rating: *

What does one say of a comedy where you can laugh at precisely one moment? In Khiladi 786, the chuckles begin and end with references to Mithun Chakraborty’s cult classic Gunda and that famous Dance India Dance line: “Kya baat kya baat kya baat!” Beyond this, Khiladi has just the odd gag and car stunt to keep you hooked. In a nutshell, we have yet another comedy, an action comedy to be precise, which shows that behind every successful entry in this ever-growing genre, a certain boredom also lurks rather obtrusively behind.

The first half of the movie still manages to fare well as we are introduced to a father-son team of marriage fixers who match horoscopes to join together desperate, love-struck couples in holy matrimony. And then, we meet a fixer of another kind in Punjab (Akshay) who strikes deals with the local police to nab crooks. His name is 72 (Bahattar) Singh and he uses Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon-esque flying stunts to beat the pulp out of his opponents. All with a 32-teeth-intact, winning smile on his face, a practiced swagger in his walk and lightning fast movements. At the third peg of this tale stands a Mumbai don (Mithun) desperately trying to have his rebellious sister (Asin) married off, into a good respectable family at that. It’s confusion galore as the three strands collide and there’s time to yawn endlessly as the film moves ever so slowly towards its delayed resolution.

The potshots taken at Chinese, Canadian and South African characters (named Sing Wang, Olivia Martin and Margaret Mandela Kaur respectively) reflect a low-brow bent of mind. Indian actors are made to pass for Africans by the use of bootpolish for makeup and a curly wig. Some characters on the side could have been interesting. Like the undertaker, ironically called Jeevan Lal Pran Lal, played by Sanjay Mishra who looks to be inspired by Rajendranath in Peechcha Karro. Sadly, the filmmaker makes him go to seed too. We can all crib and argue about the film endlessly, but what has been inescapable is its music. Khiladi bhaiyya, Balma, Hukka Bar: such earworms are getting play. Perhaps that is its only saving grace.

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