Movie Review: Baadshah Pehlwan

Producers- Swapna and Kriashna

Director- S. Krishna

Star Cast- Kichcha Sudeep, Aakanksha Singh, Sushant Singh

Gebnre- Social

Rating- **1/2

Predictable Formula

Jyothi Venkatesh

Wrestler trainer Sarkar (Sunil Shetty) brings up the street kid Krishna aka Kichcha  (Kichcha Sudeep) with the dream to groom a national champion from his akhada. The film sets out to spin a romance between Kichcha and the svelte Rukmani (Aakanksha Singh) and the plot keeps on twisting and turning till the finale when don’t ask me why but Kichcha the wrestler turns into Kichcha the feisty boxer. Pehlwaan is a film that has wrestling and boxing as its backdrop, but at its core, it sets out to tell the emotional story of a father and son.

Though the film which has been shot in Kannada and dubbed in Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi as the sign boards of shops reveal all through the film, is about a foster son who is ready to keep the word he has given to his father, fighting for all things right and getting retribution and the fight-sequences are also well-choreographed, it also has a love story, through before you can say Hey Presto, the love blossoms into a runaway marriage. In the process, poor Kichcha has to put up a fight with Tony (Kabir Duhan Singh) with a permanent frown on his face as a boxer and Rana (Sushant Singh) who keeps on grimacing all the time as a wrestler, before there is this happy ending.

While Kichcha Sudeep steals the scene in his restrained role and makes you even wipe away your tears in some emotional scenes, Sunil Shetty proves that he is a seasoned actor though he does not have many opportunities to rip off his muscles quite often in this film in which he is shown mostly as an emotional father. Akanksha Singh not only looks pretty but also acts well and endears herself to the viewers while Sushant Singh plays what he is supposed to- the hard core villain sans logic perfectly.

S Krishna drives homer a documentary style message that the government should encourage sports in nooks and corners of the village and create sports stars in our country because there are scores of talented young guys who lack money to promote themselves and groom themselves into sports stars.

Though the Kannada original may be loved by Sudeep’s fans, it is debatable whether this predictable film with its own typical formula will be able to cut ice especially because of its inordinate length in places other than Karnataka.

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