Chhichhore
Rating: 3/5
Duration: 2 hrs 26 mins
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Release Date: 06.09.2019
Star Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Prateik Babbar, Varun Sharma, Naveen Polishetty
Plot: Raghav, the only son of the rank holder, brilliant parents Aniruddha Pathak (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Maya (Shraddha Kapoor), attempts suicide on failing to clear his engineering entrance tests and being tagged as a ‘loser’. At the hospital, the doctors declare that his condition is very critical, both physically as well as mentally. As the teenager battles for his life, Aniruddha decides on taking the matter into his own hands and takes a journey down the joyous memory lane. He narrates to his son his personal experiences of his own college life where he himself happened to be a loser. He goes on to tell how he found his group of losers buddies and fell in love with Maya back in college. All this doesn’t only results in a melodramatic reunion of the old ‘loser’ gang, but also changes the actual implication of a ‘loser’ and a ‘winner’.
Review: Anxiety and stress are real phenomena affecting many engineering students in India. Clearing the competitive entrance exams to get into the prestigious engineering colleges of the country happens to be a very difficult job. At times, the students who fail to crack these exams end up in critical states of depression and self-doubt. Unable to cope with failure, these students often try to commit activities that lead to irrevocable damage to their own selves as well as their families.
Nitin Tiwari’s promising film Chhichhore revolves around this bleak truth while manifesting a heart-touching story of a group of friends enjoying their carefree college days. As the narrative of the movie walks the audience down the corridors of the hostel, the director creates a unique world, which is filled with an air of nostalgia coupled with vibrant energy. The film carries some genuinely funny moments, which actually click. The flashback mode, well-packed with comedy, companionship, and romance succeeds in lifting up the moods of the viewers and taking them back in memory to their own college days. Finally, when the movie returns to the characters’ present time, where all the friends reunite, it’s heart-touching to see how their bond has actually survived the tough test of distance and time.
The screenplay of the film happens to be quite predictable. It tends to carry a slight hangover of the previously released college life-based films, such as 3 Idiots, Student of the Year, and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. That being said, however, all these do not really disappoint because of some intelligently written dialogues, which leave you chuckling at various intervals.
Coming to the characters’ performances, Sushant Singh Rajput is bang on in the portrayal of ‘Anni’. Both as a young, charming college guy as well as a father in his 40s, the actor executes his character quite well. Shraddha Kapoor renders an appreciable performance as the star of her college and somewhat manages to carry out her role well as Raghav’s mom.
It can be rightly said that the strength of Chhichhore lies majorly in the performance of its brilliant supporting actors. Sexa (Varun Sharma), the cutie with a golden heart and porn-obsessed character attracts all eyes with his amazing comic timings. Acid (Naveen Polishetty), the AIB fame shines amazingly in his role. Derek (Tahir Raj Bhasin) gets it right as the grave-looking senior, who has been struggling to eliminate his ‘loser’ tag for three years. Mummy (Tushar Pandey) and Bevda (Saharsh Kumar Shukla) also score well with their intense performances.
Overall, Nitesh’s Chhichhore deserves a round of applause, irrespective of its few flaws. The movie has got a good number of reasons why you should go ahead and book a ticket to spend a good time with these ‘losers’-cum-‘Chhichhoras’.
