Review of Khiladi 420

Introduction

While hollywood has the James Bond films, Indian audiences have the Khiladi (The Player) series which has martial arts actor Akshay Kumer in the lead. Khiladi 420 is the latest in this series, which EROS have brought out onto DVD....

Video

This DVD has kept the original intentions of the director as it has been framed according to the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with the inclusion of an anamorphic transfer. However the source of the film used for the transfer is in such a bad shape that it makes this DVD quite un-viewable at times despite having some good range of picture information.

The DVD does reveal light compression artefacts which doesn`t distract, while grain is constant throughout. Alasling problems are kept at a minimum. However the amount of blemishes on the source is very much apparent causing distraction and jarring of the whole picture frame. This gives the film a rather low budgeted look. When compered to the film clips seen during the promos a sense of high and low quality is detected adding some frustration to viewing. EROS should make sure that nothing of the sort happens again. Also because of the damage founded on the source some scenes are missing, including the fight scene which takes place in the cave.

The sharpness of the picture is quite well handled though, never becoming to blurred or soft to ruin the image. Colours are also rather impressive as much definition was seen, but there are cases of overly blue and yellow hues seen in some scenes. But this again is due to the badly damaged 35 mm source. Blacks details and shadow were solid with details as are contrast levels.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack encoded on this DVD is pure and non quasi, however due to the poor source the sound is also affected. Much noises can be heard such as hissing, humming, pops, and crackles. Also the sound goes in various speeds from being too fast then drowning into slowness. This affects viewing as it can be easy to detect on the ears, making the whole experience a little off putting.

Still the dialogues are clear, while the sound effects heard on the front and back channels are very active helping us experience this film in a near 360 degree soundfield. But if the source was in much better condition then the sound could have been reference quality.

Features

Supplements are impressive and contain mostly EPK (Electronic Press Kit) stuff, with an excellent making of lasting around 15 mins which gives a brief look into the film, and also goes behind the scenes showing you how some scenes was shot.

Other bonuses include 6 song promo`s, all of which was excellently produced and a special interview with Akshay Kumar, which has a running time of about 5 mins. The interview gives you a view point of Akshay Kumar on his stunts, films, and mostly of himself. A nice but brief look into the actor. All supplements are in good quality and you won`t find much complaints.

Menus are thematic in design and was easy to navigate over, but the design could have been better considering the amount of well produced EPK, stills and promos the menu designers could have used.

Also the English subtitles while excellent in grammar could have used a different font or the standard (and smaller) font used on most other DVD`s.

Conclusion

To understand the `Khiladi` series we have to go back to the early nighties when a young man called Rajeev Bhatia aka Akshay Kumar, his screen name. He had starred in two flop movies which began his career; Saugandh (1991) and Mr Bond (1991). While the film Saugandh played as a typical bollywood romance, it was in Mr Bond when we got to see the talents this black belt champion had in his action skills. This film made the new and upcoming directors Abbas - Mastan choose the actor in a blockbuster film called Khiladi (1992), the first in the series.

With the commercial success of the film Khiladi, the producers Ratan and Champak Jain of United Seven Combines of the film decide to make a semi-sequel which although is not related to the previous film, it uses the label `Khiladi` as an identification for what to expect from Akshay Kumar...lots of glorified action sequences, with a masala and entertaining plot. The film Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994) was another commercial hit for the actor which showed his talents had even furthered. It also helped him secure him with other blockbusters like Yeh Dillagi (1994), Suhaag (1994) and Mohra (1994).

The success of the two `Khiladi` films lead successful B grade horror producer Keshu Ramsey, and the director Umesh Mehra, to make another `Khiladi` film with strong connotations of dark murder and violence. The film was called Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), which went on to become another box office hit and making the `Khiladi` films stronger in force. By this time the plots became more weaker in focus, yet the films had its own charm. Keshu Ramsey and Umesh Mehra then produced and directed another blockbuster `Khiladi` film which was lavishly financed.

Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) was shot in Canada, had WWF stars fighting, excellent set designs, and reintroduced actress Rekha into the limelight. The producer felt that he can begin to take the `Khiladi` title to new heights and decides to launch the next film in a pure comedic tone with a grand finale. Directed by David Dhawan, the film Mr & Mrs Khiladi (1997) was the first flop even though the comedy was interesting and much of the technical aspect was quite high. Yet this did not deter the producer or the actor into hiring back director Umesh Mehra for their next film International Khiladi (1998), which was performed much better then the last movie at the box office.

Now the latest offering in the `Khiladi` series is Khiladi 420 (2000), which takes the series to new length`s with dangerous stunts, special effects, a darker character and plot. The film looked to be rather promising with the highly action/sexual promos and the notion that screenwriter Neeraj Vora, who has written some wonderful screenplays for Hindi cinema, was the director of this film. Unfortunately this film is perhaps the weakest link out of the whole series.

The action is quite weak as are the special effects, although some effects do show sings of Hindi cinema improving with computer technology. Performances are as expected with Akshay Kumar excelling once again as the sinister Dev and as his opposite brother Anand. The rest of the cast are as good as the weak screenplay demands them to be. The less said about the music the better, and the background score could have certainly improved. The start credits actually have music from Mohra and Terminator 2 (1991), showing signs of laziness in the production.

If there was one positive aspect then it is the stunts Akshay Kumar does, which involves him on a plane quite high in the sky, jumping from a balcony to a chandelier, skiing on a road while attach to a moving car, climbing a steep cliff, and many others. The film could have been something really special to the Khiladi fans but it fails. All we can do now is wait for the next big Khiladi film called Khiladi Vs Khiladi, which will release in late 2001/early 2002 and is set to be the biggest action film ever for Hindi cinema.

This DVD could have been excellent as the encoding was handled in a fair manner. But the source the authors used was in a very bad shape, and as a result it affects the whole DVD package. EROS should make sure that the source they use must be of reasonable or reference quality. Quality control should be used to see if sourcse they are about to use is decent enough for home viewing so mistakes like this can be avoided for the future.

Besides the film is not that old, it was a recent release yet it looked like a film from the 1920`s! I suspect that EROS used a cinema run-of-the-mill print rather then the interpositve negative in India.