Khuddar

Khuddar review:

Known mainly for comedy, Khuddar was a rare instance where Govinda played an intense role of a honest upright cop who fights corruption sparing none, not even his own brother!! The film, directed by Iqbal Durrani, showcased the versatility of the star in one of his fantastic but highly underrated performance.

Karisma Kapoor was his heroine whose character trajectory moves from a cabaret dancer to a doting mother. Unfortunately, she received severe flak for this movie, particularly her raunchy 'Sexy sexy sexy mujhe log bole' number which was toned down by the conservative Indian censors to 'Baby Baby'.

The villain brigade was also fresh and dynamic. Mahesh Anand played the dangerous Babu Jaan while Navneet Nishan oozed sex appeal as his moll Jenny. Her bathtub scene with Anand drew catcalls from the front benchers at Kohinoor Cinema, Dadar where I watched this film in its first weekend. Raju Shreshta (the oh so innocent Master Raju of the '70s) was cast in a negative role of Govinda's brother who is actually a blue filmmaker.

Shakti Kapoor's Adarsh Vardhan was also a well etched character who evolves from a corrupt cop to a sinister politician and wreaks havoc in Govinda's life. "Bura toh nahi lagaa na", he keeps taunting Govinda. In one scene, he even orders the cop on duty Govinda to fetch his slippers.

Khuddar was a well directed venture but didn't do as well as expected. Maybe Govinda's image of comic hero went against him and the audience didn't accept him in a brooding avatar. Its kinda sad as the film had one of his finest performances till date. Just watch his expressions in the emotional scene where he realises his blind wifey Karisma has fed poisoned milk to their baby. Now that's what I call acting, boss!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.