Alappuzha Gymkhana: A bold swing at the classic sports underdog tale

Sports films follow a tried and tested formula. The tale of an underdog overcoming the odds for his dream still deeply resonates with audiences. While movies like Sylvester Stallone's Rocky perfected it, others like its spiritual successor, Creed, made it their own.

Few movies have tried to take that formula and do something unique with it. Be it comedies like Caddyshack and Happy Gilmore, or more serious affairs like Moneyball and Rudy, they attempted something different and remain standouts. So what happens when a movie like Alappuzha Gymkhana attempts the same?

The Malayalam sports-comedy Alappuzha Gymkhana has finally made its OTT debut on SonyLiv. Directed by Khalid Rahman, the movie follows five friends from Alappuzha, Jojo Johnson, David "DJ" John, Shifas "Valthu" Ahammed, Shifas "Cherthu" Ali, and Shanavas, who, after failing their 12th-grade exams, decide to take up boxing to secure a spot in college via the sports quota.

Breaking genre stereotypes

What should be appreciated about Alappuzha Gymkhana is the effort by Khalid Rahman and his team to deliver a sports film that tries and succeeds in avoiding the usual clichés and plot points of the genre. This is no more evident than in the movie's lead character, Jojo, played by Naslen.

The character comes off as arrogant and filled with bravado, but it becomes clear that this is just a cover to hide his true self, someone who truly roots for his friends and, through the course of the film, grows to genuinely love the sport of boxing. There are plenty of moments peppered throughout the movie that showcase this, and the actor does a great job of making you root for him.

His character arc strays far from what you would expect from the lead of a sports movie, and it is a welcome change. As for the supporting cast, the movie is blessed with strong performances. All of the supporting cast members more than carry their own and have interesting story arcs, though some are better presented than others.

Strong characters but uneven execution

This is most obvious when the movie focuses on Lukman Avaran's Antony Joshua, the coach of the team, whose character generally piques curiosity but is never explored in an interesting way.

Before the movie was released, in an interview, the director said that all he truly cares about is that his movies pass his vibe check, and for the most part, Alappuzha Gymkhana more than succeeds in it. But where the movie falls short is the screenplay.

While Khalid's last film, Thallumaala, also followed an unconventional structure to tell its story, it had a strong screenplay to back it up, which helped the movie jump between its different story arcs. But here, it lacks that polish in a lot of places, and those switches feel forced and at times lazy.

Visually stunning but musically inconsistent

The movie also has some exceptional cinematography, thanks to Jimshi Khalid, but the music by Vishnu Vijay, except for a few songs, is lacklustre, especially the background music, which should always help elevate a sports movie, but here it fails to do so. The movie would have truly stood out, if it had the music to back up the action on display.

But despite these hiccups, Alappuzha Gymkhana offers a good time and deserves praise for trying and succeeding in breaking the mould.