Khalifa Movie Review: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Khalifa gives Prithviraj Sukumaran a stylish, larger-than-life role, but the outdated smuggling drama template and weak villains keep the film from being anything more than a familiar retread. Even a memorable Mohanlal cameo cannot fully save it.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Language: Malayalam
Genre: Action, Drama
Runtime: 159 minutes
Director: Vysakh
Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Malvika Sharma, Mohanlal
Director Vysakh’s Khalifa hands Prithviraj Sukumaran a role built entirely around style and screen presence, the kind of larger-than-life gangster part where every entrance is backed by thumping background music and every scene is designed to remind you exactly who is in charge.
Unfortunately, all that swagger cannot make up for a story that feels like it has already been told a dozen times before in Malayalam cinema. The film follows Aamir Ali, played by Prithviraj, a happy-go-lucky young man running a small men’s fashion store in a Kerala town.
His father, Younus Ali, works as a government contractor desperately trying to get his dues cleared, while quietly living an honest life despite his own father, Aamir’s grandfather, having once been a notorious gold smuggling don whose activities reportedly worried even Indira Gandhi.
When Younus is falsely accused of smuggling and thrown in jail, Aamir finds himself with no other option but to step into the family’s old criminal legacy to save his father and protect the people he loves. On paper, this setup carries real emotional weight, a son forced to become the very thing his father tried to escape. In practice, though, the film never quite finds that emotional pull.
The broader story beats, honest man wronged by a corrupt system, son seeking justice through crime, family caught in the crossfire, feel like they have been lifted straight out of countless smuggling dramas from the 1980s and 90s, and little effort seems to have gone into making any of it feel fresh.
The first half spends a lot of time setting up Aamir’s world, his family, his romance, and the circumstances that eventually pull him toward smuggling. While this groundwork is necessary, it drags on far longer than it needs to, padded out with action sequences and car chases that look good but do not really move the story forward.
Things pick up once the second half shifts into full smuggling war mode, with Aamir going up against rival smuggler Harris Basheer and a corrupt politician. Unfortunately, neither of these antagonists ever feels like a real threat. Aamir always seems two steps ahead of them, which drains most of the tension out of what should be the film’s most exciting stretch.
Where Khalifa does show some genuine effort is in depicting how gold smuggling operations actually work. Some of the techniques shown feel a little dated, but the mechanics of the business itself are among the more engaging parts of the film, giving it a texture that at least feels specific rather than generic.
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Prithviraj is easily the film’s biggest asset. He clearly put in serious physical effort for the role, and his natural charisma carries scenes that the writing simply does not support. His action sequences are well choreographed, and composer Jakes Bejoy’s background score does a solid job complementing the on-screen energy, even if the soundtrack itself is not among his most memorable work.
Technically, the film looks polished too, with slick cinematography and a lavish, larger-than-life presentation of the smuggling world that gives it real visual scale. Then there is Mohanlal. His cameo arrives late in the film, well after most of the story has already played out, but the moment he appears, he completely takes over the screen, momentarily stealing focus even from Prithviraj himself.
It is easily one of the film’s most exciting moments, along with a couple of other surprise appearances near the climax. The problem is that this cameo comes far too late to meaningfully impact the story, functioning more like a teaser for a possible sequel than an actual part of the narrative.
The supporting cast fares reasonably well within their limited screen time. Shammi Thilakan brings real menace as the corrupt politician, and Mohini makes a notable comeback after fifteen years, though both female leads, Mohini and Malvika Sharma, are given very little to actually do.
In the end, Khalifa is an unusual mix, stylish and watchable in the moment, yet forgettable once the credits roll. Vysakh does deliver a more confident outing than his previous two films, and Prithviraj’s commanding presence keeps things engaging on a scene-by-scene basis. But without a script willing to take real risks, Khalifa ends up as a film that looks impressive without ever truly surprising its audience.