Rating: 
Now that the 1980s’ variety of masala films are being lapped up by spectators, it is heartening to see Mumbai-based film-makers working hard to create zany entertainers, also boarding the next available flight to South India to clinch the deal/s for the remake rights of Southern blockbusters. The A-list actors, on their part, are equally gung ho for unabashed entertainers, consenting to allocate ample time to movies of this variety.
Akshay Kumar, who tasted super success earlier this year with ROWDY RATHORE [besides HOUSEFULL 2 and OMG – OH MY GOD!], comes up with his second masala outing before the year draws to a close, KHILADI 786. What makes KHILADI 786 conspicuous is the fact that it marks Akshay’s return as ‘Khiladi’ after more than a decade. From the immensely likeable KHILADI in 1992 to KHILADI 420 in 2000, Akshay was the face of over half-a-dozen ‘Khiladi’ movies during that phase — some good, some plain average, some terrible movies. The brand ‘Khiladi’ got affixed to Akshay in those years.
KHILADI 786 borrows the ‘Khiladi’ brand, but has no correlation with the ‘Khiladi’ movies attempted earlier. KHILADI 786 has a skeletal plot, but is padded with ingredients that are aimed at the hoi polloi: The lead man bashes up 10/15 goons at one go like we swat mosquitoes, punches the wall in anger and the wall crumbles, even gulps down a man as if he we were consuming a soft drink from a straw [yes, you read it right!]. This is a mere sample of what you gonna see in KHILADI 786. So, be prepared!
Come to think of it, KHILADI 786 has been made with the intention of grabbing the attention of the hardcore masses, hitting the ton [Rs 100 cr Club] and giving the tag of a ‘Hit Machine’ to its lead man, Akshay, who has delivered three solid hits this year. Ashish R. Mohan, who has been an apprentice to Rohit Shetty in the past, adapts his mentor’s formula of wooing the audience, stretching the term unbelievable more than it should. More on that later!
Born to the owner of a marriage bureau Champak Lal [Manoj Joshi], Mansukh [Himesh Reshammiya] has been a complete failure ever since he has grown up and tried to help his father in their family business. All the alliances he had tried to get done have resulted in separation even before the marriage took place.
To prove his worth to his father, he takes up an unusual challenge of getting the underworld don, TT Bhai’s [Mithun Chakraborty] spoilt sister Indu [Asin] married to a cop called Bahattar Singh aka Khiladi 786 [Akshay Kumar] in Punjab. Mansukh convinces TT Bhai to pretend as a cop. Little do they know that Bahattar Singh, his father Sattar Singh [Raj Babbar] and his uncle Ikhattar Singh [Mukesh Rishi] are not cops, but a family of con men.
The two families now pretend to be policemen in front of each other, but the cat is out of the bag soon…
KHILADI 786 is an old-school wacky potboiler. There isn’t an iota of logic here and one is not even looking for intelligence, rationale or justification either. The film is packed with ingredients that constitute a wholesome entertainer such as humor, South-styled stunts with the one-man army outsmarting a bunch of deadly goons and of course, visually enticing songs every 15/20 minutes, but the writing has its share of hiccups…
* Mithun is supposed to be a dreaded don in Mumbai, whose name and pics have been splashed in newspapers and TV channels since decades [we’re even shown clips], but how come Raj Babbar, Akshay and their family are completely clueless of his identity?
* The track of Asin’s lover [Rahul Singh] is a yawn. What was the writer thinking while penning those sequences?
* The climax, with Rajesh Khattar landing up at the wedding, Johny Lever unlocking himself from a room where he was held captive and Mushtaq Khan and Bharti suddenly becoming news reporters at the wedding mandap, looks too much of a cinematic liberty.
On the plus side, the first-time director throws every trick in the book to entice the spectator and moves on to the next scene, before the viewer gets the feeling of deja vu. There’s no denying that you actually enjoy certain moments in the narrative. The concept of having an African and Chinese in the family is so funny. Also, the lost-in-mela brother surfacing in the end may look ridiculous, but makes you smile again. In a nutshell, the film caters to the masala loving audience and the director has no qualms about admitting it.
Himesh Reshammiya, who enacts a pivotal part in the film, belts out super numbers here. ‘Balma’, ‘Lonely’, ‘Hookah’ and ‘Long Drive’ have already made it to the music charts and are, without doubt, standout tracks. The action sequences are very much macho and executed with zest and enthusiasm.
Akshay’s desi punches, raw and masculine action and the correct comic timing is sure to win a lot of hearts yet again. He is in his element, in complete form, brimming with charm and confidence. He’s the mainstay of the film and lives up to the title every bit. Asin is the prototypical heroine who has to look her best, dance admirably and pair off with her on-screen man.
Himesh Reshammiya does very well, while Mithun Chakraborty and Raj Babbar add lots of weight to their characters. Sanjay Mishra is in his element. Mukesh Tiwari impresses. Johny Lever is under-utilized. Manoj Joshi, Rajesh Khattar, Mukesh Rishi and Gurpreet Guggi are perfect. Mushtaq Khan, Bharti and Rahul Singh deserved better roles. Claudia Ciesla’s item song adds glamour to the proceedings.
On the whole, KHILADI 786 is not for purists, but for lovers of hardcore masala films completely. If zany amusement, wacky humor and over the top entertainers is what you enjoy, this one’s for you. Go, have fun!
Ratings:Three and Half Stars.
https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/reviews/type/view/id/1238
Tags: Akshay Kumar Asin Himesh Reshammiya Khiladi 786 Reviews Taran Adarsh
Times of India Movie Review 3 stars
Story: Akela hai Mr. Khiladi, Ms. Khiladi chahiye. It’s that simple, really.
Movie Review: Barah baras baad, Khiladi ka number aa gaya. Bollywood’s original Khiladi is back from self-imposed exile; still with a heart of gold, the pride of a true-blooded Singh and mighty-muscles of steel. And of course, a truck-load of even more Singhs – welcome the players. But before we lose count, let’s ‘count’ the global Singhs – each of them with a Number for a name. To start with, Bahattar (read: 72) Singh, aka Khiladi bhaiyya ( Akshay Kumar), his father Sattar Singh ( Raj Babbar) with his Canadian wife and African mother. Add on Ikhattar Singh ( Mukesh Rishi) and his Chinese wife. Just in case you realize number 73 is missing, keep guessing.
The Singhs are a family of proud con-cops (partly for a cause), and while 72 Singh can single-handedly thrash thugs at supersonic speed, he believes in driving women around in what he calls a mardon ki sawaari – a vibrantly colourful truck – on date nights. No wonder, matrimonial rejects are aplenty (everyone wants a sawaari in a Ferrari, you see) and Khiladi bhaiyya is left ‘lonely-lonely’, with little or no action in his love life. Enter Mansukh Desai (Himesh) a wedding-fixer, who takes on the challenge of finding a girl to match his machismo. And he finds one in the feisty Indu Tendulkar (Asin) – Mumbai’s wanted don, TT’s (Mithun) sister. Well, she turns out to be nothing short of a psycho baiko, in love with a part-time-prisoner called Azad.
Akshay is in his top-form, his punches are as power-packed as his one-liners. With kurtas as colourful as his character, nonchalant charm and playful references to recent hits (Rowdy Rathore, Housefull 2, Singham), he proves to be sabse bada khiladi, yet again.
Asin has, without a doubt, looked her best in this film. As Ms. Khiladi, she’s pulled out a few guns, stepped on the gas (crashing and speeding up cars) and romanced her balma. Mithun, dons the role of goonda, but with his funny liners, he leaves us with a lot of laughs. Himesh is decent as a caricature-ish Gujju boy.
Debutant director Ashish R Mohan’s masala potboiler style is unmistakably reminiscent of his guru, Rohit Shetty’s films. There are flying cars, flying bodies, flying fists and a flying Singh too. He shows flair for comedy, but for a film titled Khiladi’, it lacks hard-core action, heat and the adrenalin rush that is synonymous with Akshay’s Khiladi series (maybe intentionally). With a feel of hip-hop, rap, rock and our good ‘ol Burmanda, Himesh’s music pumps life and energy into the story.
For those looking for some logic-less laughtime, groovy tunes topped with some todh-podh – this one could bring some action to your weekend.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/hindi/Khiladi-786/movie-review/17504813.cms
Subhash K Jha Review: Khiladi 786 is true dhamaal, Akshay style
What can be said about a film where a couple named Mili and Bhagat conspire to bring their employer’s empire down?
Mili? Bhagat? Get it?
Khiladi 786 is the kind comic orgy done in shades of green, orange and pink, which doesn’t require us to strain our brain. The kicks and grunts, guffaws and chortles, the antics raillery and tomfoolery flow out unstoppered like an uncapped toothpaste tube.
The formula is simple. And stark. Get the audience to laugh at any cost. And some of it does work quite well. Shukriya.
We have a hero. No, make that a super-duper-hero, who flies across the air, pounds automobiles to a pulp with his bare fists, breaks down a jail cell’s stone walls with a flick of his manly fist, gets goofy or gooey-eyed depending on his co-star on screen.
Akshay’s crazily improvised performance as a sham cop borrows dollops from Salman Khan’s Dabangg and Akshay’s own Rowdy Rathore. The derivative derringdo doesn’t diminish the impact of the italicised antics that range from the arresting to the exasperating.
Sample this. Asin (back in fetching form for the first time since Ghajini) loves a lout who is chronically incarcerated. Each time the jailed loverboy (Rahul Singh, well-cast effectively played) is about to be released, he’s sent back packing for some unintentional crime or the other.
Courtesy: ibn live
Aa ab ‘lout’ chalen?
The script seems to be written by someone who loves Akshay’s humorous heroics and his emphatic but spoofy hijinks. Both the traits are amply accentuated in the script. Khiladi 786 ultimately becomes a showcase for its insanely successful superstar hero’s talents. Akshay, as we all know, loves to play the Punjabi Devdas. He did it effectively in Vipul Shah’s Namastey London, where he stepped back gallantly to let his wife Katrina Kaif make a fool of herself with an undeserving boyfriend.
Exactly the same triangular situation crops up in the second-half of Khiladi 786, when midway through the anarchic hilarity, Akshay decides to play the bleeding teary-eyed martyr “gifting” Asin to the aforementioned jailed jerk.
Mamta Kulkarni in the early Khiladi film Sabse Bada Khiladi had done the airheaded lovergirl running after the wrong man. Back then, Akshay stood guard over Mamta with the same steadfast loyalty as he does for Asin.
Some things never change in our cinema. Heroines may come and go. Heroes live on forever.
A sense of continuity runs through all of Akshay Kumar’s comedies. He doesn’t do anything here that he hasn’t done before. The trademark goofy grin and the self-deprecating humour are back. Here, the hero is desperate to get married . That’s a sporting part whose subtext screams, ‘Look, I am such a big star and I play a character who can’t get a woman to marry me, ha ha.’
It’s all done in fun, with plenty of unzippered zest and a comforting absence of vulgarity. The ensemble cast, particularly Mithun Chakraborty and Raj Babbar, catches on to the shrill sur of a music that suggests a blend of parody and homage to the Formula Cinema. So, we have long-lost brother of the hero showing up in the climax with a mocking mawkishness that Manmohan Desai would have approved of.
The music by Himesh Reshammiya is splendidly in-sync with the film’s wacked-out mood. He often uses standard background effects from old Hindi films to remind us that we are laughing at conventions that never grew outdated in our cinema.
Oh yes, Reshammiya also plays an important part in the film as a hopeless inept wedding planner. It’s good to see Reshammiya doing a Gujju act. He was born to play Mansukh.
As for Akshay Kumar’s Khiladi act, he can do the parodic paces blindfolded. Adding adrenaline to the antics are the crashing, tumbling somersaulting cars, which provide thrills in a very Rohit Shetty way.
Incidentally, one character played by Sanjay Mishra thinks he looks like Amol Palekar. And bursts into Aanewala pal jaanewala hai from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Gol Maal.
Wondering if Mishra got the wrong Gol Maal. And did he mean Ajay Devgn instead of Amol Palekar?
Khiladi 786 is an oddball of a dhamaka that blends slapstick with stunts. It is farcical fun from first frame to the last. Go, have a blast.
Rating: ***
https://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-khiladi-786-is-true-dhamaal-akshay-style-549025.html
NDTV Review Khiladi 786
Beyond the numbers, caricatures abound: a tough Punjabi munda whose fists are as fast as lightning when he takes on the baddies; a feisty Marathi mulgi who turns into a maniac when she gets behind the wheels of a car; and a luckless Gujju boy who cannot stay out of trouble.
Neither is that all – a Canadian mother, a Chinese aunt and an African grandmother are added to the broth. It’s the united colours of Punjab. Khiladi 786 is every bit as hopelessly mixed-up as that sounds.
It might make good business sense for a Bollywood A-lister to lay his claims on an old, lucrative franchise, but the sport that the khiladi plays on the comeback trail is going to be anything but a game-changer.
Khiladi 786 has nothing new to offer. It is cut from the same cloth that have yielded many of Akshay Kumar’s recent vehicles. These films have sought to cash in on his rough and rowdy screen persona. Khiladi 786 does more of the same.
In short, it is another outright assault on the senses. The comedy is crass, the acting borders on the slapstick, and the general air that hangs over the film is one of utter lunacy. The loudness is accentuated manifold by an ear-splitting background score.
Given the wild palette it dips itself into, Khiladi 786 is just the sort of film that could leave you colour blind. The hero – he is called Bahattar Singh (Akshay Kumar) – dons the most garish riot of hues, from pink to purple, from red to russet.
And his truck is yuck. It’s like a prehistoric vehicle that has emerged from a slushy pond of abandoned paints.
This man who answers to a number spouts the most meaningless lines and resorts to all the pea-brained pyrotechnics that come with the territory.
It’s unlikely he’d be able to count beyond two. Seventy-two is way, way outside his ken. What makes matters worse for him – and the audience – is that he has a missing brother. Yes, you’ve guessed it, his name, too, is a number.
Our man Bahattar belongs to a clan of conmen masquerading as cops who help nab smugglers on the Punjab border and, in the bargain, pocket a share of the booty.
The patriarch of this bizarre brood is Sattar Singh (Raj Babbar), who has a brother named Ikhattar Singh (Mukesh Rishi).
You can sing along with these strange beings, but chances are you’d look for the nearest exit by the time the number reaches a crescendo.
Bahattar has a problem: he is looking for a bride but no girl in the vicinity of “district Malkhanpur, village Taasi” is willing to marry him.
Enter Mansukh Desai (Himesh Reshammiya), a Mumbai boy who has been disowned by his marriage bureau owner-dad for repeatedly making a hash of the business.
Both Bahattar and Mansukh have a point to prove and when their paths predictably cross all hell breaks loose.
For Bahattar, matchmaker Mansukh zeroes in on Indu Tendulkar (Asin), who happens to be the sister of an underworld don Tatya Tukaram Tendulkar (Mithun Chakraborty).
Indu is no mean lady and has her own way of keeping unwanted suitors at bay. This “psycho baiko” has a boyfriend – a jailbird who can never keep out of trouble.
The countdown begins when Bahattar and his family land at the Mumbai don’s house to solemnise the guy’s wedding with Indu. The mayhem that results is what the rest of the film is about.
Director Ashish R. Mohan, erstwhile Rohit Shetty assistant, clearly believes that playing by the numbers is that all one needs to do in order to rustle up a laugh riot.
Unfortunately for him, an action comedy is a hard game to tame. What does he have at his disposal? A hammy khiladi, a couple of songs that pass muster and a whole bunch of stuntmen flying all over the place.
The gags that he strings together are too unfunny and tiresome to lift the film out of its morass.
Any saving graces? There is one, but it doesn’t quite serve the purpose. Himesh Reshammiya, does what sounds like a send-up on his much-ridiculed nasal voice in one number – not too bad. He spoils it all a few minutes later by crooning a love ditty in pretty much the same style, this time around in right earnest.
All said and done, Khiladi 786 is not half as bad as Joker. But is that saying much?
Ratings; One and a Half.
https://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=764
Rediff Review: Khiladi 786 is unfunny, unclever
This is no Rowdy Rathore, folks, this is just a gimmick. True, they did infuse it with a lot of other delightful innuendos, and some reference to comic books, but at the same time, ruined with unclever lines and expectant looks.
This is a wannabe funny movie, an assault on our collective intellect.
Rating: 0.5 / 5
Read the rest HERE:
https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-khiladi-786-is-unclever-unfunny/20121207.htm
Movie talkies,3/5 full masala
Full masala Garam masala LoL
Nice review Aditya bro. 😀
OK Loved #Khiladi786 movie, @akshaykumar was really awesome in Movie & You Can Say Its One Man Show!! 3.5/5
mate,
That wasn’t my review ,Only I have Gives rating what MovieTalkies gives!
Anyway, what I guess from the initial response, my prediction is,
1st day: 9-10 cr
1st weekend:30-32 cr
Lifetime: 50-55 cr
Verdict: Flop
Telegraph Review by Pratim Gupta
LEAVE YOUR BRAINS — AND MORE — AT HOME TO ENJOY A FEW LAUGHS WITH MITHUNDA AND AKSHAY IN THIS OTT FILM
There’s this absolutely extraordinary scene towards the end of Khiladi 786. Akshay Kumar, who plays this Punjabi superhero, has been blasting away baddies left, right and centre throughout the film and finally someone has managed to land one punch on him. One simple little punch.
Kharonch, savvy? That shot of him getting hurt is suddenly intercut with waves hitting rocks, quakes splitting grounds, seagulls scurrying through the sky… total Tree of Life!
No, Terrence Malick couldn’t have made this film. Naa bhai, naa!
There’s more than a “thin red line”. Do you have any idea with whom we are dealing here? Bahattar Singh, whose father is called Sattar Singh and mother is Canadian, whose uncle is Ikattar Singh and aunt Chinese and whose twin brother Tiyattar Singh was lost in a mela by their South African grandma!
And even if Malick manages to put together this number-crunching international Singhhood, can he, even in his frightmare, rope in Himesh Reshammiya as a Gujarati wedding planner? Naak toh suna hoga? The Nose has co-produced this one and also dropped his nasal notes in the soundtrack. After Zandu balm and Fevicol, this could have been such a natural fit for an Otrivin association, no?
Anyway, this is Akshay’s eighth Khiladi film, a tradition which started with that smart Abbas-Mustan project two decades back. Thereafter the Khiladi films have become synonymous with great Akki action, from WWE to chopper stunts, peppered with everything from bholi-bhaali ladkis to cougar love, from Mamta Kulkarni to Rekha.
But this is 2012. The last Khiladi film was in 2000 and it was 366 short (Khiladi 420). Today Akshay Kumar is a superstar, a brand at the box-office and so he doesn’t even need to hit people anymore. Debutant director Ashish R. Mohan, who had assisted Rohit Shetty on all the Golmaal films plus a couple more, takes his guru’s flying-in-the-air action to another level. 72 Singh rolls his sleeves and they just fly in all directions. And when he does roll his arms, the action looks like Malinga and he strikes like Malinga as well.
The plot is a bit like Anees Bazmee’s Welcome, where an underworld don (Mithun Chakraborty) in Mumbai is struggling to get his sister Indu (Asin) married. Thanks to The Nose, the rishta lands up in the Singh 70s family, who are goons too, just that they pose as cops and loot smugglers on the Punjab border. They all get together and play chor-police even as 72 romances Indu in a club called RD Burman Nights where Claudia Ciesla dances. Till 10:10?
Of course, Khiladi 786 is the kind of film where you are always asked to leave your brains behind at home. In fact, more the body parts you leave at home the better. Your eyes will be saved from the rainbow-coloured costumes and that VIBGYOR truck. Your ears will be saved from Himesh’s naak-daaka. Yet, the circus is amusing at more than one point. While the film doesn’t take itself too seriously — none of these movies should — you can make out that at least some thought has gone into the writing.
That the actors are not running amok on their own and there’s some sense of direction. They want to entertain and not just take the ticket money home.
Akshay has become a veteran of these roles now and while he has never quite hit the Hera Pheri mark again, he is watchable in this one. Asin’s a bit of a downer, too self-serious for a film like this. Of the ensemble comedy cast, Sanjay Mishra is hilarious.
But nothing comes close to Mithunda, of course! With a bushy handlebar moustache so fake that you can see the stickers inside, he is TTT — Tantiya Tukaram Tendulkar. You can imagine where it goes from there. And no, we won’t tell you how awful Himesh is!
It’s never explained though why the Singh family count started from 70! Maybe that’s kept aside for the next Khiladi movie. Before Shaare Chuattar Singh makes an entry, we should get out of here!
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1121208/jsp/entertainment/story_16287397.jsp