Any Sunny Deol film means you get an abundant supply of action and gore. Champion doesn't disappoint.
But coming on the heels of innumerable such all brawn and no brain bloodletters, this film leaves you as bored as the expression on the faces of those in it.
It also raises a question: What are actors of the calibre of Sunny Deol and Manisha Koirala really doing in this film?
Consider: Clichés abound. The story, written by director Padam Kumar, revolves around Rajveer Singh (Sunny Deol ), a police inspector who travels to Bombay with dreams of making it big in the city.
Only, instead of getting assignments to eliminate the mafia, he is assigned the job of playing bodyguard to Abbas (Abhishek Sharma) who has lost his parents in aircrash masterminded by Nasir (Rahul Dev).
It doesn't take being a diehard Sunny Deol fan (and there were just a handful in the lonely theatre) to guess the rest of the film is all about Nasir's attempt to kill Abbas and for Rajveer Singh to thwart it when he is not prancing around trees with Sapna (Manisha Koirala).
Adding to the minuses in this done-to-death revenge plot is the number of times Nasir seems to rise like a phoenix from the ashes.
This movie been in the making for a few years and the jaded touch to it shows. The songs, barring the title song, add to the cacophony and chaos as they just appear without any reason.
The scenes look like a mishmash picked up from many action flicks one catches on the idiot box to fill in the mandatory three hours. The director tries to use some toilet humour to raise a few laughs. A Manisha Koirala scene in the bathroom or a kid sitting on the potty cracking double entendres make you wonder what made you decide to click this flick!
Manisha Koirala seems to have no part to play except be part of the scenery in a few songs. She's miscast as a model with oodles of weight and a bad dress designer's experiment.
Sunny Deol plays his part as the macho man. One hopes his was a well-scripted role with dialogues to match that he can do justice to. Even the action scenes -- a Sunny trademark -- barring one or two lack punch.
Abhishek Sharma, who plays the child in question exudes the right note of vulnerability and bravado and manages to garner your sympathy for the poor little rich boy character that he plays.
Rahul Dev as the bad guy plays his part to the hilt and performs well in a well-written character. He is impressive as one watches the transformation of a geeky teenager moulding himself into a demonic mad man. Supported by his unconventional craggy looks, long hair, a chiseled physique and piercing eyes, this model manages to more than use his body language to ooze the terror of a killer on the loose.
On the whole, go for this one, if all options this holiday weekend are a no-go. You might just enjoy sleeping in the comfortable cinema seats.
CREDITS
Cast: Sunny Deol, Manisha Koirala, Master Abhishek Sharma and (introducing) Rahul Dev
Director: Padam Kumar
Producer: Sujeet Kumar
Music: Anu Malik