Kho Kho, the pathbreaking sports drama starring Kerala State Award winner for Best Actress, Rajisha Vijayan had a direct-to-TV release on Asianet today with OTT release on Amazon Prime and Saina Play yet to be announced (Released on 27th outside India on Simply South OTT).
Malayalam's first sports drama featuring an all-female sports team, Kho Kho follows the story of an enterprising young physical education teacher.
She tries to build a Kho Kho team in an ill-equipped government girls school, amidst an array of cultural, financial and disciplinary challenges.
While the core story is good and the handful of lead characters, instantly likeable, Kho Kho falter in trying to hit almost every sports movie cliche. Contrived and corny dialogues in many crux scenes reduce the impact they should have made on the viewer.
National Award-winning director Rahul Riji Nair has done really well in capturing the Kho Kho game sequences with authenticity and realism and Mamitha Baiju and Renjit Shekar are good in their supporting roles.
Rajisha Vijayan is wonderful in a more restrained, nuanced avatar than we are normally used to. Her character's tumultuous back-story adds many layers to the performance.
Ultimately, despite its flaws, the viewer can't help but root for this inspiring team of determined girls from Government Girls School Perunthuruthu. And ultimately, that is what makes a sports film watchable.
A good one-time watch. Recommended.
