Khalnayak review :
A film which became mighty successful only for its controversies rather than content. Firstly, Madhuri Dixit cavorting to the double meaning 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya hai?!!" made some prudes call to ban the song. Thankfully, the court didnt agree!! Next, Sanjay Dutt who played the titular role, was arrested in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. Khalnayak got such tremendous hype and publicity from these events that producer- director Subhash Ghai didn't need to spend any substantial amount to promote it. Just a huge cutout of Sanju Baba staring at the audience from behind bars was enough to pull in the audience!!
Indeed, the movie worked only due to Madhuri Dixit's sensuous 'Choli' item number and Sanjay Dutt going to jail around that time. Content wise, Khalnayak was lacking the showman's midas touch visible from Karz (1980) till Saudagar (1991). The plot revolving around a terrorist (Sanju) who falls in love with an undercover cop (Madhuri) with her fellow colleague cum lover (Jackie Shroff) completing the triangle was as old as the hills!! The execution too, left a lot to be desired..
Actually, the film starts off well but loses its way completely after interval. Even the climax appears hurriedly compromised to cater to Dutt's fans. Showman Subhash Ghai's direction was shockingly weak in most places. I would say his Pardes (1997) and Taal (1999) were better products than Khalnayak.
Having said that, the craze for this movie was truly incredible and next only to Amitabh Bachchan's Shahenshah (1988) and Hum (1991). The advance booking was so humongous that I couldn't get tickets at Chitra Cinema, Dadar in its entire first week (The rates in black were simply unaffordable) and finally, caught the film there only on second tuesday when stalls were available in current booking. The initial euphoria for Khalnayak ensured it attained Super Hit status at the box office. Choli aur Controversy ki Jai!!
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
