User reviews

Lallu is a term used in North India to denote a person who is excessively naive or purely stupid in the context of the worldly knowledge. Popular Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma wrote a novel under this title which was a suspense-thriller and published in 1994. Ved Prakash Sharma gave the story of this novel to Bollywood director Umesh Mehra for making a Hindi film on that. Umesh Mehra not only bought the story but also hired the services of Ved Prakash Sharma to write the screenplay and the dialogs of that movie. Popular action hero Akshay Kumar was signed for the lead role. The movie proved to be a box office grosser. It's Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995).

Sabse Bada Khiladi (the biggest player) is the story of a simpleton (Akshay Kumar) who calls himself as Lallu. He saves the life of a rich businessman, Jamna Daas (Avtaar Gill) when a truck was about to trample him. Jamna Daas has a motherless daughter, Sunita (Mamta Kulkarni) who has become a brat. A crooked criminal lawyer Amar Singh (Sadashiv Amrapurkar) is planning to usurp the wealth of Jamna Daas by getting his son Amit (Mohnish Behl) married to Sunita. Amit has been successful in trapping Sunita in his fake love. Now the situation is that the self-proclaimed Lallu has himself got injured in his attempt to save the life of Jamna Daas. Out of gratitude, Jamna Daas arranges his medical treatment and also gives him a job in his household. Feeling that Lallu is innocent and clean-heart, Jamna Daas assigns him the responsibility of bringing Sunita on the right track. Since this does not suit the greedy father-son duo, i.e., Amar Singh and Amit; they go after Lallu. A police inspector, Kekda (Gulshan Grover) also becomes a part of this scenario. He is also trying to grind his own axe in the given status of things but he suspects that Lallu is not what he claims to be and his real motive is not just grabbing Jamna Daas' wealth. Now a game of checks and checkmates start between Lallu and his opponents. Finally, the real identity of Lallu as well as his real objective comes to fore and he only emerges as the winner in the end, proving himself to be the biggest player (Sabse Bada Khiladi).

While making a Bollywood movie on a good story or a good novel, it is a Herculean task for the filmmaker to do justice to the original work. Why ? Because he has to take care of the commercial considerations and stud the script with regular formulae viz. songs and dances, romance, comedy, fights etc. so that the movie can appeal to the masses habituated of watching such flicks. And in this bid, the original story gets distorted. Exceptionally, sometimes the movie proves to be a better creative work than the novel / story. However on most of such occasions, it's the movie which comes a cropper when compared with the good literary work which is its premise. Sabse Bada Khiladi falls into the latter category. I read the novel first and watched the movie later and concluded without any doubt in my mind that the movie is many notches below the novel. Where the novel is a brilliant suspense-thriller, the movie is a run-of-the-mill Bollywood movie with many things going over the top, diluting the quality of the original story.

The novel has been written on a very large canvas which could not be covered in the two and a half hours long movie. But this is one aspect only. The style of narrating itself is faulty in the movie. The novel starts with Lallu's encounter with the benevolent rich man and gradually the story unfolds on layer-by-layer basis, rendering shocks to the reader after every few pages, the movie starts with those events which have been narrated in the novel in flash-back. The flat narration has not allowed the suspense factor to thicken and envelop the audience in the desirable manner. The movie focuses more on romance, (slapstick) comedy, songs and dances and action and less on the mind-games between the protagonist and the antagonists which is the backbone of the novel. Unlike the novel, the movie is devoid of any shock value. The movie is an interesting one, all the same. Those who have not read the novel will find themselves as hooked throughout.

Rajesh Roshan's music with the lyrics of Dev Kohli is also a plus point of the movie. Mukkala ... Muqaabla ... and Bholi Bhali Ladki had become chartbusters when the movie was released. If I have to choose the best song, then I will choose Har Dil Mein Hai Rab Basta which is linked to the Lallu avtaar of the hero making the entry. Music is not great but it's appealing and adds value to the movie.

Performance wise talking, the director seems to have allowed the actors to act in whatever way they wanted. Character actors - Avtaar Gill and Sudhir Dalvi (playing the role of the doctor of Jamna Daas) only are able to impress. Akshay Kumar has acted according to his action hero image of that period. He had already become famous as Khiladi (player) by that time and this movie consolidated his position in the industry in that form. It's a pity that a fine actor like Mohnish Behl had to overact (perhaps because of the instructions given to him by the director).

All in all, Sabse Bada Khiladi is a value for money flick. Definitely a nice timepass. However as said earlier, the novel is much superior to the movie and therefore, while recommending the movie to the typical movie buffs, I advise those who can read Hindi to read the novel Lallu which is a gem from the pen of the famous Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma.

Okay, the film doesn't really start very well, but once the character of Lallu is introduced, it's quite fun and watchable. Towards the end, however, it goes back to being a rather pathetic sort of enterprise where some of the action and especially the court scenes are hilarious in their absurdity. The court in particular feels like a circus and I can't believe many of the things presented in it made sense to the writers, director, or actors playing in it. Everything in between, as Lallu enters the house of a wealthy businessman, gains his trust and eventually marries his spoilt daughter, is eminently watchable. The film takes plot elements from Umesh Mehra's own films like Mujrim, so everything is rather familiar, but it's watchable. Much of the film is set in a huge mansion, which is usual. The cinematography does get a little funny, as the lighting and the use of smoke and shades is exaggerated, but within the context of a thriller or mystery, it's quite passable.

Sabse Bada Khiladi rests on the able shoulders of Akshay Kumar, and you gotta like this actor, who's always greatly unaffected and whose wholesome personality and impressive agility in the action scenes and throughout the show is totally entertaining. Less should be said about the rest of the cast, including his pretty leading lady, Mamta Kulkarni, who just fills in the blank, and some of the caricature villains. Mohnish Bahl, for one, just doesn't suit his villainous turn at all. I wish the film had delved more into the romance between Akshay and Mamta, which was sadly lacking despite the shock value in some of their lip locks. The music is nice, especially that sensuous "Bharo" number (copied from Enigma's "Hallelujah"), which is quite exotic and is probably the only instance where Mamta gets an opportunity to shine through her dance and sultry presence. Sabse Bada Khiladi is a typical action film of the 1990s, and it's a little silly, but overall, quite fun.

Sabse bada khiladi has been made basically with the intention of creating a Hindi movie during the 90's like an English masala flick. I can be sure of that after watching it for over 2 and a 1/2 hours.

I feel the best part is some of the action sequences and stunts, especially towards the end, which are entertaining to watch. Few songs are good, few very silly and artificial.

Best acting is perhaps that of Gulshan Grover and the character named Amarsingh (I don't know his real name).Even Gulshan's dialogs are very hilarious.

It can be watched once, but it is not suited for kids.

I've watched this movie three times, but I've never felt bored when watching it. Sabse Bada Khiladi is one of the best films from the Khiladi series I have ever watched.

Akshay Kumar, the main actor performed his role very well. He played Inspector Vijay, the cool and cool inspector, and Kalki, the foolish man very well. Among his roles as Vijay and Lallu, I think his role as Lallu is the best. Akshay is more suited to play the witty character than the indifferent character. He's an actor who has talent as a comedian. He has always been a successful comedian in his films. Before watching the film Singh Is King (in my opinion this is the best Akshay Kumar comedy), I can already see the talent of comedian Akshay in this film. Lallu's departure is the saddest part, even though Lallu and Vijay are ... (I don't want to spread spoilers). But, his role as a police officer did not disappoint. He did all that perfectly. Akshay did the battle scenes very well, with a stern face.

Mamta Kulkarni, she is the main female magnet in this film. Mamta does everything extraordinary. Her acting is something that cannot be underestimated. She did well.

Mohnish Behl, he did well but ... he did the same thing as in the previous films. He remains a villain. Supposedly, there was another actor who replaced his position at the time. He has become too much a villain, and he should change his image by becoming a hero. Do you know? Being a bad guy is no good! He will be labeled a villain by the audience!

This film is the same as 90s films in general. Have a quality that is not too good. But for the storyline, this is amazing. Although the climax scene can already be predicted how the ending. But for mysteries and puzzles ... This is the hard part to guess. My advice, if you want to watch this movie for the first time and want to get stuck in the game, don't ever open iMDb other than to see the rating! Some users spread spoilers on their reviews and give no warning about it. If you read my review before watching, I hope you don't do it a second time. I'm trying not to spread spoilers to keep your curiosity.

For the song, I give a 7/10 rating. The soundtrack is very impressive, especially for the song "Bholi Bhali Ladki." The song should be appreciated because it has a beautiful melody, even though the choreography is a bit strange. This is common in the 90s. The Mamta and Akshay costumes in the songs are a bit strange. Maybe, at that time, their costumes were very cool. But as a millennial generation and living in present, I feel that their costumes are very strange. But, maybe their costume is a costume that was very cool in its time.

I guess there's nothing else I need to comment on. May I ask, can I watch it for the fourth time?

My rating : 8/10

Don't forget to watch this movie! Enjoy the roller coaster!

Produced by Time ( Directed by Umesh Mehra of Eagle Films ) If you Like Revenge with some action and Some Masala Watch This Movie Starring Akshay Kumar , Mamta Kulkarni ,Mohnish Behl and Sadashiv amrapurkar with Gulshan Grover ( Caution: You wont Regret it it's not boring Songs are good (boli bali ladki) is one of the popular songs of tht Year it released. good direction good story Akshay Kumar Gulshan Grover and Sadashiv Amrapurkar with Mohnish Behl have done a good job in this movie Must watch it was a hit at the Box office with it to know was it a hit

Action king Akshay kumar proves Helicopter action scenes