Alappuzha Gymkhana

In Boxing, dodging a punch is probably as important as landing one. Filmmaker Khalid Rahman clearly knows a thing or two about this evasion technique, which he portrays so well in the elegantly staged boxing bouts in his fifth film, Alappuzha Gymkhana. Like a skilled boxer, he also gently evades the genre compulsions of making a sports movie, especially one that revolves around boxing. In doing so, he also breaks the expectations associated with him after the inventive Thallumaala. It is not surprising, though, for all his five films have hardly anything in common. The attempts to break cliches in a sports movie is an endeavour fraught with risks, for it also means not going along that easy path with an endless supply of emotional highs and cheap thrills. Alappuzha Gymkhana does not deliver much of the latter but makes up with a relatable tale that spares a thought for those not cut out to win. The film is written in such a way as to make us think that we wouldn’t want it any other way.