Madhavan is brilliant as the coach who may have missed the bus but now wants to live his dream through his protégé. Ritika delivers in her debut as the expressive Madhi. The fact that she is trained in MMA comes across in the fight scenes.

However, the film’s weak script and treatment lets them down. There are no nail-biting scenes and the drama inside the ring is also lacking. The film may be on boxing but it lacks the punches.

It has the right balance of humour, drama and insight. It sheds light on the many fallacies of sports in India but it never gets preachy or boring. It always stays relevant and most importantly it engages you and entertains. This is Bollywood’s happier answer to Million Dollar Baby. And to employ the old Mohammad Ali adage, this one floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

Despite the flaws, it’s the performances that redeem the movie. R Madhavan’s imposing as the bulky coach, who, despite his eccentricities and downfalls, never lets his passion die. He’s matched brilliantly by Ritika Singh, who captures Madhi’s fractured world with striking strokes. However, Adi and Madhi never emerge heroes, and that’s a failing on the writing.

While ‘Saala Khadoos’ has some powerful moments, it’s not a knockout!

Alas, the film itself doesn’t match up to the glory of its stunning visual velocity or its leading man​’s ​ towering performance. This is Madhavan’s Raging Bull. By far his career’s finest performance. The film could have been better, though. Much better.

The film is crisp, and does not stray away from its USP at any point – its emotional connection with us, the audience. The story is clichéd, honestly, and doesn’t give us something hatke. However, the story of grit and dedication tasting success is always a very romantic one, and therefore, the film is right in the feels. The execution is quite simple and hence, super.

Saala Khadoos is unable to rise above the predictability and time worn clichés of an average sports movies. One hopes the Tamil version would have come together better.

Saala Khadoos packs in many issues that affect female Indian athletes – poor sporting infrastructure, indifferent and corrupt government officials, and sexual harassment by coaches, selectors and administrators. The movie seeks to warn young women of the perils that could befall them if they lay themselves bare for the glory of the game and the nation. It doesn’t exactly seem to be the appropriate place to suggest that it is perfectly alright for a young boxer to fall in love with a coach who is twice her age, but Saala Khadoos goes right ahead and does just that.