There are two reasons why Bollywood churns these no-brainer multi-starrer movies every 15 days. One is to make a lot of money and the other is to make a point – “Bloody hell, I can do it. So what are you going to do about it?”

Khiladi 786 throws that question in your face right in the very first scene.

How you answer that question will decide if you will find the movie entertaining or otherwise. If you can surrender to the theology that masala movies need no plot and do not conform to the laws of physics; Khiladi 786 is quite enjoyable. The movie is original, actors convincing, the VFX great and the humor works. 

This movie has no resemblance whatsoever with the earlier Khiladi movies. One wonders why the dead/dormant series was even revived after 12 years. 

The movie thrives largely on fresh humor rather than the charm of it’s protagonist – Khiladi. The dose of humor is clean and regular;the characters succeed in making you laugh without behaving cheap or dirty.Mind you, that is a steep ask from a Bollywood comedy these days.

All men in the hero’s family have numbers instead of first-names. The father (played by Raj Babbar) is 70 Singh (Sattar), uncle (played by Mukesh Rishi) is 71 Singh (Ikhatar), our protagonist gets to be 72 Singh (Bahattar) and his long lost brother is 73 Singh (Tehattar). Add to it that none of the elders in the family were able to find an Indian bride for themselves. Neither is 72 Singh getting any luckier.

Mansukh (played by Himesh Reshammiya) is a marriage broker who lies his way in to arranging an alliance between meets the local don’s sister and 72 Singh. Mithun Chakraborty is cast as Tatya Tukaram Tendulkar aka TTT, the don and Asin Thottumkal as Indu Tendulkar, the female lead.

Akshay Kumar is undoubtedly one of the finest actors in Bollywood. He can act, dance, cry and even fight better than most of his peers. With a role like this, he cannot fail.

Asin‘s role demands keeping her mouth shut and looking pretty at the same time. There are none more talented when it comes to it; genuine mirror-cracking material.

This has to be Himesh Reshamiya‘s most decent outing as an actor. He delivers the funny lines and expressions without looking like a buffoon. Good or bad, one can always rely on him for catchy tunes (the title tune for one). This dude never disappoints even when he is co-writing the script and co-producing the movie at the same time. I wonder if this was supposed to be a comeback movie for Khiladi or Himesh. 

Mithun and Raj Babbar too lend their limited yet noticeable contributions. There is also a sparkling cameo by Johnny Lever as inspector Bhalerao Kambli. He utters a lot of tuzya mai la and something in between them.

The brightest spark in the supporting cast is Rahul Singh. He plays Azad Reddy, a local goon with heavy Hyderabadi accent. Some of his dialogues and scenes involving him form the most laughable moments of the movie.

The two-and-half hours of unnecessary nonsense that is called Khiladi 786 isn’t entirely unwatchable. The director (Ashish R Mohan) has done an average job in binding the random music videos and comic scenes into a plot. However, what he has excelled in is hurling men and automobiles into unbelievable trajectories in the air. The VFX & slapstick is so neat that it can give Rohit Shetty a complex. 
The movie delivers on its two promises – humor and slapstick. Some decent comedy that doesn’t get dirty or stoop to being buffoonery. 
Avoidable, yet not something you will regret.
My rating: 6/10


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