Cert 12A
110 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate bad language, sex references, violence
Evidence that Indian film fans are the most ardent in the world is easy to find on social media.
Retweets from superstar Ranganathan Madhavan shows the devotion to him and his latest movie Irudhi Suttru.
They include many who have seen the movie every week since its release six weeks ago. I would suggest they need more variety in their lives.
It's not that Sudha Kongara's Irudhi Suttru is a poor picture - it certainly isn't. But the avalanche of praise seems over the top to me.
Madhaven plays a swarthy and hot-headed coach who is regularly at odds with the establishment who are in control of women's boxing.
Therefore, after a false allegation of sexual harassment, he is banished to Chennai which has no reputation of producing quality fighters.
However, our hero spots a rough diamond (Ritika Singh) when he is meant to be scouting her sister (Mumtaz Sorcar).
The problem is that his protege has a temper which is even more foul than his, so he has an almighty struggle to make her disciplined enough to be successful.
Irudhi Suttru combines love and sport in a way which has clearly resonated with Indian audiences (it is being shown in Tamil and Hindi).
But while the fans are besotted with Madhaven I thought the best of the cast was debutant Singh.
She was a boxer before becoming an actress and, consequently, her fight scenes are more realistic than what might have been expected.
However, the reason that the movie didn't score more heavily for me was that it was too easy to predict, particularly its finale.
Apparently, Indian female boxers had an unlikely world championship victory a decade ago and that inspired this film.
I was left wondering whether a closer adaptation rather than reducing it to romance might have been better.
Reasons to watch: the feisty performance by debutant Ritika Singh
Reasons to avoid: it becomes way too cheesy
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: yes
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6/10
Star tweet
Ritika Singh And we're off to Chandigarh! Super excited to show our film #saalakhadoos to all my boxer friends there ![💃🏻]( "Dancer (light skin tone)")
