Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995)

Sabse Bada Khiladi is a movie that I've always held close to me... not because I'd loved it (I'd never seen it before), but instead because I grew up listening to (and loving) the songs. Watching it, I fell in love with the songs yet again. Oh, and the movie wasn't too bad either.

Laloo (Akshay Kumar) ends up in the good graces of a rich businessman (Avtar Gill) after saving his life. Avtar, ever thankful, gives Laloo... an orphan... a room in his house. And one day, after Laloo bring his drunk/drugged daughter (Mamta Kulkarni) home without taking advantage of her state and after he (Avtar) meets the guy Mamta loves (Mohnish Bahl) and becomes disgusted with him, he decides that he wants Mamta to marry Laloo. Mamta leaves the house with Mohnish, and Avtar has a heart attack. He ends up in the hospital and asks for his daughter... Laloo goes and kidnaps her (more-or-less) right before she can leave to go get married and brings her in. Her father goes into a coma, and since that is (for some reason) considered to be the end-all, they read his will. Everything will go to Mamta... provided she marries Laloo within a 1 month time frame.

She is up in arms, but after Mohnish's father (Sadashiv Amrapurkar) tells them that he's willing to be the divorce attorney for her (simple plan... marry him, get divorced, take the money from him), the 2 (Laloo, Mamta) get married. During the reception, Mamta announces her plan to everyone there... and the lawyer lets it be known that Avtar had expected that and put in an addendum to the will that if they got divorced, everything would go to Laloo. Laloo, after marriage, turns into an ass. Mamta, unable to stand this, talks to Mohnish, who decides to kill Laloo. After a brief struggle, the 2 of them manage to kill him but when trying to dispose of the body, they get caught by a police inspector (Gulshan Grover). Grover agrees to help them if he gets paid, so they agree to that and push the car down a hill/cliff, and it explodes ways off.

Gulshan, with his money, resigns from his post, and it is given to Vijay (also Akshay Kumar). Vijay heads to the city, having an enmity with Sadashiv that is ready to boil over, and desperate to find out what happened to Laloo... who just might be his long-lost twin who was presumed dead years ago (killed by Sadashiv).


The plot is interesting... it had some chances but wasn't as solid as you'd like to see from a suspense movie. A couple of the points seem to come out of left field... for example, what is the point of trying to frame Gulshan Grover? Sadashiv & Mohnish I understand, but Gulshan Grover? It makes sense after the bribe-taking, but the plan was made before that. Also, Mamta's about-face seems a bit rushed and isn't very well explained.

The songs are, in my opinion, great. I loved listening to them, and watching them wasn't too bad either.

Acting-wise... Akshay carried the movie, as you'd expect from a Khiladi film. Especially as Laloo, but even as Vijay, he makes his presence felt. Plus, punching/destroying an apple during a song, beating up Mohnish Behl with Mamta Kulkarni and when he stops a guy from attacking him with a stool between his legs and then throws it at another guy while jumping... just random scenes you've come to expect from Akshay. He does it all. Mamta, I wasn't really impressed with. But she played her role alright; scared, triumphant & everything in between. Avtar didn't have much to do. Sadashiv was an alright villain... I much prefer his comic twist in the Govinda/Chunky Pandey version of Aankhen. Mohnish Bahl was good too... there are times where it really seems like he's getting the emotions for him and is the good guy. Gulshan Grover is hilarious in the first half. Weird shoulder and all. Especially when he breaks into a semi-dance while Akshay is kissing Mamta. He's a bit more serious in the 2nd half, but it's all good.

Sabse Bada Khiladi isn't the greatest Khiladi movie I've seen (Main Khiladi Tu Anari), but it definitely isn't the worst either (the horrible Khiladi 420). It's a fun movie though, with Akshay doing his thing and no one really making the movie a pain to watch. Plus, Akshay had a pony-tail in the song, which was just weird.