Chhalaang review: Rajkummar Rao-Nushrratt Bharuccha starrer scores as a rom-com but falters as a sports drama | Bollywood Life
Genre-bending is something Indian cinema, especially Bollywood, has mastered long before Hollywood began churning out horror hybrids, dystopian dramas, and kung-fu westerns. After all, who else invented masala movies — the granddaddy of all genre-benders. So, when you have a Bollywood movie come along that merely marries a sports drama with a rom-com, without needing the union of any other genres, you’d expect it to be a cakewalk for any Hindi filmmaker. Sadly, that’s not the case with Chhalaang, which merges an old-school rom-com with a sports drama. National-Award-winning director Hansal Mehta does score in the former category, but it’s in the latter that the wheels of his creativity needed more oil, way more oil. Also Read – Trending Entertainment News Today: Nikki Tamboli schools Jaan Kumar Sanu, Suriya opens up on Soorarai Pottru, Mirzapur 3 greenlit
Scroll down for my full Chhalaang review… Also Read – Vishal-Shekhar want no part of Chhalaang’s Deedar De remix; say, ‘We composed the original, we haven’t done this remix’
What’s it about
Montu (Rajkummar Rao), an unambiguous, listless going man, working as a PT instructor in a small-town school in Haryana, falls head-over-heels in love with Neelu (Nushrratt Bharuccha), the new computer teacher, and eventually manages to win a part of her affection after much persuasion. However, the arrival of Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), a far more qualified and disciplined PT teacher, as Montu’s senior creates discord both in his personal and professional life, forcing him to get serious, take stock of his future, and prove his mettle. Everything is then put at stake when both Montu challenges Singh to a triumvirate sports competition between two teams of students of their choosing. Also Read – What to Watch this Week: Laxmii, Chhalaang, Ludo, Aashram 2, Soorarai Pottru – 5 titles to satiate your binge-watching urge
What’s hot
As mentioned before, Chhalaang works as a rom-com, and works quite well. There’s an old-scool vibe to it, reminding you of classics like Chhoti Si Baat, Chitchor and Naram Garam, from the likes of auteurs such as Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, where the simpleton underdog gets the girl against all odds from the flashier, go-getter competitor. Both Luv Ranjan, Aseem Arrora and Zeishan Quadri’s screenplay as also Hansal Mehta’s direction imbue all the charm and feel-good factor necessary to make such romances, reflective of a bygone era, work for modern viewers.
