Chhalaang Review: Rajkummar Rao in a Still (courtesy primevideoin)
Discard: Rajkummar Rao, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satish Kaushik, Saurabh Shukla, Baljinder Kaur
Director: Hansal Mehta
Evaluation: 2 stars (out of 5)
A wanderer finds a purpose in life and turns a new leaf into Chhalaang, an original Amazon film directed by Hansal Mehta. Unfortunately, it is a piece of cinema that does not bear the imprint of the director of Shahid and Aligarh. There is nothing fresh to offer. It’s a jump that’s everywhere.
When his job as a PT master in a school in Haryana comes into play, the film’s protagonist challenges the man who replaced him to a sporting “duel”. He suggests they compete in three specific disciplines with teams of their choice to prove who is the best coach. The school principal accedes to the strange idea and draws lots to decide which games they will play. Yes it is so arbitrary Chhalaang is.
In a display of misguided bravado, the hero lets National Institute of Sports (NIS) trained rival Patiala be the first to attempt to put together a squad. This leaves him with a bunch of latecomers to work with. It’s a classic basis for a standard outsider drama. He does not have, as it happens, the legs to carry an entire film. The finale goes out.
The hero is rightly ticked off for his recklessness by an aging colleague, Shukla (Saurabh Shukla), who supports him in a thick and thin way. The rest of the Chhalaang The story (credited to producer Luv Ranjan), centered around a “battle royale” in the heat and dust of a small town, is devilishly predictable.
Chhalaang Review: Rajkummar Rao in a Still
Sports action never shows up on occasion despite the fact that one of the best in the business (Rob Miller, who oversaw the field action in Chak De India !, in addition to working on many other Hindi films) is in charge of these portions of Chhalaang.
Chhalaang, scripted by Luv Ranjan, Aseem Arrora and Zeishan Quadri, serves up a contrived, uninspired drama that uses easy methods to get its point across. It’s more of a series of sorry stumbles than a booming spectacle.
In the final minutes of the film, the winner gives a long speech. He ends with “Sorry, thoda bhaashan type ho gaya”. Say it again, man! Chhalaang is indeed a prolonged sermon which swallows up an inordinate amount of time but which brings little genuine substance.
Clichés are the norm here. While one of the coaches insists on the importance of speed, endurance and strength as conditions for athletic success, the other urges his team to focus on their game. Very good, but the pious Statements from both men, especially those of the hero, are infuriatingly stilted in light of what has happened before.
What came before was the uninspiring sight of Montu (Rajkummar Rao), son of a seasoned lawyer (Satish Kaushik), making fun of his own life and work. He treats his job like that – a job. When the principal (Ila Arun) advises him to roll up his socks, he casually rationalizes that students should focus on studying instead of wasting time on sports.
It’s pretty obvious from the start, however, that Montu’s days as a wanderer won’t last long, especially when new IT teacher Neelima (Nushrratt Bharuccha) joins the school staff. Fear of not being able to move forward with her is exacerbated by her attention to Inder Mohan Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), the physical education instructor who has just arrived to give the school a boost. .
Montu’s transformation from a mean-spirited man who, as a member of a local anti-Romeo team, publicly humiliates a middle-aged married couple (Rajeev Gupta and Suparna Marwah) into a flawless guy who sheds his apathy and his insecurities to fight as his rightful place under the sun is as unconvincing as the scattered journey his relationship with Neelima takes.
Since the girl is also a “ trophy ” to be won, Chhalaang overcompensates its masculine bias by making painstaking twists aimed at emphasizing gender equality. While Montu sends feelers to Neelima, the latter, after a false start, responds with “Ami banna hai? Daru pilaoge?” Not only that, when the ice has been broken, Montu’s father offers him a drink on the terrace of his house while he gives a pep talk to his son and daughter.
This may not be problematic in itself, but registering girls for the competition is completely illogical. We all agree that gender segregation in a general sense is a no-no, but the girls in a kabaddi boys team is a bit too much. It only does the cause a favor by reducing it to a joke. Equally difficult to digest is the cavalier manner in which the film devalues the value of one qualified coach to project one who has accomplished little to deserve to be where he is.
The character of Inder Mohan Singh, played by an accomplished stage thief, is desperately endorsed. Although every time Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is on screen the film noticeably straightens out, the alien figure who brings a new way of seeing things is allowed to be just an echo on the radar, only appearing occasionally for the purpose of giving the hero a goal to pursue – and someone to train with.
But for the fact that Singh was a Neelima senior at Kuruskshetra University and has an official degree from NIS Patiala, we are not told anything about his background and why the hell he ended up in a school funded by the government where sport is weak. priority.
Chhalaang is hosted by Satish Kaushik, Saurabh Shukla and Baljinder Kaur (playing Montu’s chatty mother). Jatin Sarna, in the role of Dimpy, the halwai friend of Montu, is left out. Nushrratt Bharuccha has what looks like a meaty role, but considering the slapdash way the script shifts her allegiance from one trainer to another – this despite the fact that the one she’s rooting only gave her. no good reason to be a supporter – his efforts are wasted.
Chhalaang Review: Nushrratt Bharuccha and Rajkummar Rao in a still
The film’s biggest loss comes from the glaring inconsistencies with which the hero character is riddled with. He starts off as an unkind, pompous, cocky, lazy guy. It only gets worse – we suddenly see him as a thug leading a Sanskriti Dal moral police team. And then, just as abruptly, he changes his mind. The fact that he’s a flawed protagonist isn’t the issue. That he is a false hero is.
Chhalaang, at first glance, hits the right buttons, gender parity included, but it all feels more fabricated than organic when a man like Montu is handed a long string and presented as a model of purposeful assertiveness.
Chhalaang, unable to push back its contradictions, becomes entangled in its own contradictory messages. As a result, the promised leap never materializes.
