TL;DR – There is an interesting story here, if you are willing to sit through some of the more convoluted parts of the narrative.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service to view this film.

Biker Review Introduction

It has been a while, but it is time to jump back into the world of Indian Cinema, with an interesting period sports film out of Tollywood. One of the things that I love about world cinema is seeing how different countries adapt themes that I have experienced in my local cinematic world. The differences and similarities, and it is that space that we work in today.

So, to set the scene, it’s 2003, in Hyderabad, India. Vikas “Vicky” Narayan (Sharwanand) is living with his wife Ananya (Malvika Nair) and son Ishaan (Shourya Chelemella). It is not a perfect life, as his son struggles in school, but it is one he loves. However, when the duplicitous Chairman of IGN, Indraneel Chirag (Atul Kulkarni), comes after Vicky’s estranged father Sunil Narayan (Rajasekhar/ P. Sai Kumar), Vicky must decide if he wants to save his father by jumping back into a world he had left behind: Motocross GP.  

The Good

Biker is a film that you would be surprised by the modest budget, because it was clearly punching above its weight class successfully. A good example of this is when they dive into the world of Motocross GP, with the revving of the engines, and the whirling of the wheels bringing this visceral feeling to the proceedings. Sharwanand is a more than capable lead and helps carry this narrative of a returning fighter getting back in the ring. In that regard, the film does feel a touch like it is driving in the same race as films like Creed II. Atul Kulkarni brings peak-sliminess as the devious head of a corporation in over his head. I also liked how much agency they gave to Ananya, who could have been an anchor on the story. Another highlight was the musical score that hit every note. I wish I could play those motifs they bring out every time that Vicky is staring someone down via the camera. While I will talk about the structure in the next section, I will say that the film hit the right final chord with the ending. They tick off a lot of those common beats that you see in redemption sporting films, but I have to say it is effective.  

The Bad

While I generally liked the film, unfortunately, it was filled with artistic choices that kept pulling me out of the narrative. From a production side of things, the dubbing [in the original Telugu language presentation] was not where it needed to be, and quite often you could see the lips being out of sync, and for me that is grating. The film also puts up a barrier with regard to presenting its story. I never bought the redemption arc they kept trying to add to Sunil’s storyline. The man made his bed, and now he must sleep in it. Then there are some very convoluted time jumps, there is an issue with the inconsistent pacing of the narrative, and there is a lot of filler that could and should have found its way on the cutting room floor.

I know Indian cinema is generally structured differently from Western cinema, not so much having a three-act structure but a drive towards a key emotional touchstone before the intermission and then the ending. However, it felt like there was a tight 90 minutes of narrative here that got stretched to 162 minutes. A good example of this padding is this dance number at the start of the film, which is the only dance number in the movie; it felt like it was filmed for a completely different film, and I got the feeling that not even the actors were grooving with the proceedings. Each of these choices crash into each other, especially in the first half of the film, becoming a real issue.  

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Biker? While it did have a rough start, it did find its feet and became quite engaging. However, I can understandably see someone clocking out of the film in the first half an hour, which is a shame, because once it gets going, it is quite a ride. Have you watched Biker? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Biker, we would recommend F1 to you because it also captures some of that drive of getting one more chance at a dream you have thought lost to time. It also understands just how important folly is to the construction of a racing film.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Biker
Directed by – Abhilash Reddy
Written by – Abhilash Reddy, M.V.S Bharadwai, & Shravan Madala
Music & Lyrics by – KK, Dinesh, RR Dhruvan,
Cinematography by – J. Yuvraj
Edited by – Anil Pasala
Production/Distribution Companies – Mango Mass Media, VR Global Media, UV Creations, & Netflix
Starring – Sharwanand, Rajasekhar, Malavika Nair, Shourya Chelemella, Tulasi, Brahmaji, Naveen Neni, Atul Kulkarni, Indraneel, Shashank, Adharsh, Viren, Ashok, Niroop, Venkateshwar, Nikesh Raj, Manohar, Surajith Reddy, Ayansh, Akash, Narasimha Raju, Mathew Varghese, & Adharsh Annapareddy
Rating – Australia: M;