Chhalaang Movie Review: Rajkummar Rao Starrer Film Is All Heart & Refreshingly Desi With A Lesson In Sportsmanship

• Reviews
• Updated:November 13, 2020 10:20 IST

• Authors: Arunita Tiwari (Editorial Team)
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Tales from the heartland have found a special place in Bollywood and Hansal Mehta’s Chhalaang makes a handsome addition to the list. The Rajkummar Rao and Nushrratt Bharuccha starrer through for the most part feels like a desi Student Of The Year but here there’s a job at stake and the competitors are, well, the teachers. While I say that I mean it in the most positive way possible. It is the desi-ness of Chhalaang that makes it refreshing even though we have seen many zero to hero films come and go in Bollywood.

Mahendra Singh Hooda aka Montu (Rajkummar Rao) lives a settled life in a small town Jhajjar in Haryana. He is a P.T.I (physical training instructor) in a local school where he himself studied, a job he couldn’t care less about, and is especially a bully to couples on Valentine’s Day. The remainder of his time is spent with a local halwai Dimpy and school teacher Shukla.

His perfect life is what might feel like a happily ever after for most heroes in films but for Montu his every comfort zone is about to break as romance enters his life in the form of a computer teacher Neelima aka Neelu (Nushrratt Bharuccha) and his job is threatened by the arrival of another sports teacher Mr. Singh in school (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub). While in both cases Montu lets his ego take the lead but he has bigger lessons to learn and to see Hansal Mehta see break down this character from hero to human, is perhaps the most loveable aspect of the film.

Montu throws open a challenge to Mr. Singh to keep his job, and life for him and his team of students begins to change.

While sports dramas are being made a dime a dozen in Bollywood, another thing to love about Chhalaang is the spirit of sportsmanship that it encourages. Even with Singh and Montu doing everything in their power to keep their position in the school, their ‘everything’ only entails training their students the best they know and no foul play. Their techniques speak for them and that contrast is maintained till the end.

One thing in particular that makes me breathe easy about Chhalaang is that every actor has made a genuine effort to work on their accents, as the film is set in Haryana, and also stick to them not break character even in the intense moments.

Coming to the performances in the film, Chhalaang is loaded with the best. Saurabh Shukla, Ila Arun, Jatin Sarna, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub elevate the story with little effort and good impact. You’d love Nushrratt Bharuccha’s no nonsense attitude, which makes her shine in a character which could easily have made her look sidetracked with the all hero story. The credit for that goes to the pristine vision and writing as far as her character is concerned.

Chhalaang is all heart and makes for a perfect Diwali watch with family with its messaging and optimistic outlook.