Movie: Chhichhore
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Prateik Babbar, Tahir Raj Bhasin
Directed by: Nitesh Tiwari
‘Chhichhore’. The moment you hear this word, you associate it with a group of vagrant boys who have no other job on this planet, apart from wandering around like nomads and bothering people just for the sake of it. The same thought might have risen when we all heard that Nitesh Tiwari of ‘Dangal’ fame is making a film titled ‘Chhichhore’. With Sushant Singh Rajput and a talented bunch of boys around, everyone thought it is going to be an all-out fun film, which will help you relive your college days. Well, as far as this perception is considered, its partially true, but then there’s also a lot more to it than just this, in Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Chhichhore’.
The story is primarily about Sushant Singh Rajput (Aniruddh) and Shraddha Kapoor (Maya) and their son, who makes a failed attempt at committing suicide because of failing to clear all-important JEE exams with a good rank in the first attempt. Aniruddh and Maya meet during their college days at India’s finest engineering college. After a lot of struggle, Aniruddh finally manages to impress Maya and the two get along beautifully from then on. As per the hostel system in various colleges, Sushant too has been allotted a hostel (H4) which has the compilation of all the mischievous students of the college. However, as college goes on, Sushant realizes that students of H4 are called ‘losers’. No, it’s not because they suck in studies or are bad at work. It is because the team of H4 has always been so ridiculous in sports that they have been losing the all important inter-hostel sports competition for almost 15 years at a stretch and very badly. That’s why there’s a sense of superiority among the students of H3 because they have the best sportsmen around and have been winning the cup since the last few years at a stretch.
The movie constantly moves in transition and shows time lapses between the college life of Aniruddh and Maya to the present life where both are divorced and their son is struggling and fighting for his life at the hospital after attempting suicide. What the son’s accident does is it brings Aniruddh and Maya together under the same roof once again, with the common goal –to see their son alive and kicking once again. Aniruddh and Maya learn from the doctor that their son is really critical and has damaged a big portion of his brain. Although they feel let down, they don’t give up and especially Sushant. He feels his son tried to commit suicide because he fears the world would call him a ‘loser’ for not clearing JEE in the first attempt. So the heart of the father instructs him to share his own college journey with his son so that he gets to understand that his father was apparently a bigger loser than him in college but things do turn around in life. So he decides to narrate his own college life story about how he and his H4 hostel friends worked hard and drilled it out to let go of the tag of ‘losers’, by competing really hard and strong at the inter-hostel championship at college. In the process, Aniruddh calls all his friends back from his college days and from the H4 unit, thinking that hearing their own story from their own mouth might inspire his son to look at the larger perspective in life. So, one by one, all his friends from college, the nicknames being Acid, Mummy, Derek, Sexa and Bevda come together under one roof at the hospital with a common goal – to help heal their friend’s son and also to reunite Aniruddh and Maya with whatever possibilities remaining.
Slowly and steadily, as the narrative continues in the flashback mode, the journey and quest to win the all-important championship becomes way bigger for team H4. Although the initial rounds are of failed struggle and patchy teamwork, eventually Aniruddh and team manage to get their team together and manage to compete and be at the top at par with team H3, despite many odds coming their way. Although they are absolutely close to pulling off a blinder and winning the competition, they lose at the all-important stage of the finals, and thus fail to lift the championship. But guess what they manage to do after 15 years? Get rid of the title of ‘losers’ because of the effort they had put in. While many would have thought that this would to be a film showing the inevitable where the underdogs win a blinder, this is more of the realistic version of the same thing. Eventually, the storytelling session is over and the son realizes that despite losing or not being 100% successful at the last moment inspite of putting in so much effort, they didn’t feel like killing themselves just like he did after failing to clear JEE despite putting in 100% effort from his end. This is what eventually helps in changing his perception of life. He realizes that there’s more to life than just grades and ranks. Eventually, by God’s grace, the son becomes fine after an intense session of surgey and by the end of next year, is good to begin his college life by taking forward all the experiences the H4 group comprising of his father, mother and their friends had during their college life.
IWMBuzz Verdict : The story and the screenplay of Chhichhore is absolutely wonderful and full marks to Nitesh Tiwari for not only taking the onus of direction upon himself but also writing it all by himself to give the film the right direction and leadership. The movie helps you relive your college days and rings in that sense of nostalgia that you have from your college life, where you have all the fun on the planet with your close set of friends, but also stand tall as a pillar with each other in each other’s need. The direction is pretty impressive and the performances of all the actors is something to look out for. Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor looked effortless in their chemistry and they managed to create magic. However one con thst needs to be pointed out is the old age look of Sushant Singh Rajput which didn’t really appear as the most convincing; it was rather forced, one would say. But the best part of ‘Chhichhore’ lies in the message that the movie gives out, especially to all the parents in the country, who pressurize their child for grades and ranks and push them into the rat race, which sometimes gets the better of them to such an extent that they end up committing suicide. As Sushant says in one of his dialogues, that if he was given an option between his son getting an engineering seat and his son being totally safe and most importantly alive, he would anyday pick the latter, just like any parent would. After all, what’s the point of a good rank or college if the child doesn’t survive by being unable to handle the pressure. The movie is totally fun-loving, with some amazingly written funny dialogues that will definitely tickle your funny bone. But it also sets the right tone of emotion for you, which will make you understand the deeper sense and value of life. Over all, it is a must watch as the movie will give out a beautiful message in the most entertaining way possible. The most decent ‘Chhichhorapanti’ is definitely here from Nitesh Tiwari’s end, and it’s a winner for sure.
3/5 stars