Highlights
- Prithviraj Sukumaran brings plenty of style and screen presence to the gold-smuggling thriller.
- Mohanlal’s appearance provides one of the film’s strongest moments.
- Despite its lavish treatment and action set pieces, the story follows a familiar and predictable path.
Khalifa arrives with the kind of ingredients that usually make a Malayalam mass entertainer hard to resist: Prithviraj Sukumaran in a larger-than-life role, Vysakh behind the camera, a gold-smuggling backdrop and the added pull of Mohanlal. Yet, for all its scale and star power, the film struggles to deliver the one thing this genre needs most: a sense of surprise.
The film follows Mambarakal Aamir Ali, played by Prithviraj, as he becomes entangled in his family's long-running gold-smuggling legacy. His grandfather Mambarakkal Ahmed Ali was himself a notorious smuggler, setting up a story built around family, crime and power.
Prithviraj owns the style
There is little doubt that Prithviraj understands how to sell a larger-than-life character. His appearance, costumes and screen presence give Aamir Ali the swagger expected from a Vysakh action film.
The technical side also does much of the heavy lifting. The visuals, action choreography and Jakes Bejoy's background score give Khalifa the polished, theatrical quality its scale demands. Early audience reactions have similarly singled out Prithviraj's entry and the film's technical presentation as major strengths.
But the stylish presentation cannot completely disguise how familiar the underlying material feels. A gold-smuggling thriller needs more than expensive-looking action and dramatic confrontations to keep the audience guessing.
The story plays it safe
The biggest weakness is the predictability of the narrative. Rather than constantly shifting the stakes, Khalifa settles into familiar crime-drama territory, making several developments easier to anticipate than they should be.
That does not make the film devoid of entertainment. The action sequences have enough scale to work on the big screen, while the family angle gives the story an emotional foundation. However, the film's ambition and its execution do not always match.
The result is a movie that can look considerably more exciting than it actually feels. Even some early audience reactions have praised the performances and action while questioning the narration and predictable storytelling.
Mohanlal delivers the moment the film needs
Mohanlal's presence is one of Khalifa's biggest talking points, although his role is more limited than the pairing with Prithviraj might suggest. Prithviraj had previously indicated that Mohanlal's appearance would primarily introduce his character, leaving room for his story to be explored further.
When that moment arrives, however, it carries the weight expected from a star of his stature. It is one of the film's most powerful stretches and provides a much-needed jolt to a narrative that can otherwise feel overly familiar.
That cameo also adds another layer to Khalifa, suggesting that the film may be laying the groundwork for a larger story rather than treating itself as a completely self-contained saga.
Khalifa is at its best when it embraces spectacle. Prithviraj's commanding presence, the polished visuals, action and Mohanlal's impactful appearance give the film enough theatrical appeal to keep it moving.
But beneath the style is a story that rarely takes the risks its premise promises. For a film built around smuggling, crime and family power struggles, there simply aren't enough surprises.
