‘Biker’ Movie Review: Sharwanand Leads a Savvy Motocross Film That Hits the Breaks on Emotions

A unanimous feeling that cuts through most successful sports films is a soft, even if not fully sappy, core. We might recognise it in the grittier titles such as Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky (1976) or even the recent, more effervescent Challengers (2024). Films like Pa Ranjith’s Sarpatta Parambarai told the ascent of a tender but oppressed underdog through a boxing film, while Dangal did it with a steady but light hand, showing a father’s love for his daughters. Sharwanand’s latest Telugu film, Biker, has all the characteristics of a solid sports film.

We have suavely cut and shot frames that educate us about the sport's tenacity. A biker who feels he can never be good enough for his tough-as-bones dad. An event that changes his life. And the eventual ascent to greatness. Director Abhilash Reddy understands the genre and goes through the motions of it on paper, something that translates well visually. But it lacks a basic non-negotiable element often associated with the genre — one that makes us irrevocably root for these characters.

Vikas “Vicky” Narayan (played by Sharwanand) is the titular biker whose story we’re introduced to. He is a loving father and a husband who shows up for the people in his life, despite having a big bike-shaped hole in his heart. The film moves pretty seamlessly between the 90s and the 2000s, showing us the various pieces in Vicky’s life — including the one he left behind. One of the most talented bikers India has ever seen, Vicky grew up in motocross hub Coimbatore under the watchful eyes of his dad and former biker Sunil (Rajasekhar). Sunil is better equipped at expressing his love for Vicky on the tracks. He is a tough nut to crack. He might be reprimanding Vicky for not resting before a game one night, and propping up his son as the greatest of all time to an investor, another night. 

Biker is as much about navigating fatherhood as it is about the shiny sport in the centre of it. In the middle of all dirt biking and moments of machismo-fuelled bravado is the story of a son who grows up wanting to be like his dad. We learn a lot of this information through dialogue and barely through the film’s staging. Sharwanand lends Vicky the audacity to dream and be larger-than-life, without the hamminess. But the film rarely gives him the chance to breathe out the complex realities of a washed-up sportsperson. He is careful not to repeat his father’s mistakes when he becomes a father, even if that means giving up something dear to him. He treats the things — family and friends — that his father considers as mere distractions, as something that fuels his sport. A lot of these details are never dwelt on, which would've kept the film emotionally well-rounded.

While the editing between the time periods keeps things fresh, some of the choices are confusing. The film pauses at a point, urging us to be pumped for Vicky, even without revealing a pivotal detail. So much of the film’s focus goes into the sport’s technicalities and the inherent vanity that it forgets to show us the finer details behind what makes these sports dramas great: relationships.

Sharwanand and Malavika Nair share an easy chemistry, but their scenes, as fleeting as they are in the larger scheme of things, are heavily underwritten. Atul Kulkarni plays the bad guy, but the reasons for his said cruelty aren't very clear. There are moments in the film that make use of the bike much beyond what it represents in the sport. Vicky's courage gets a very physical representation in a scene when he bikes over a dangerous mountain range. The film keeps coming back to this moment, reminding Vicky and us not just of his tenacity, but of what this stunt means to him as a biker, a son, and a new father. It reminds him of a time he flew. Such moments are rare to come by in Biker, but when they do, they're worth our while.