Chhichhore Movie Review: Rajput-Shraddha Kapoor Sushant Singh

Chhichhore Movie Review: Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor film is no 3 Idiots

In this article we present Chhichhore Movie Review, Chhichhore Movie songs, Chhichhore Movie cast, Chhichhore Movie release date, Chhichhore Movie trailer, Chhichhore Movie poster for you.

Chhichhore stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor and Varun Sharma in lead roles. The film, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is a bundle of cliches.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Chhichhore marks the second directorial venture of Nitesh Tiwari.
• Nitesh Tiwari's first film as a director was the blockbuster Dangal starring Aamir Khan.
• Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor are the lead actors in Chhichhore, which hit the screens today.

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Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma
Director: Nitesh Tiwari

When asked about the best days of our life, most of us go into flashback mode and think of our school and college days. The time when friends were family and midnight shenanigans and midnight cravings went hand-in-hand. Nostalgia, accompanied with envy, hits you the moment you see a group of carefree college students. Because time moves in one direction.

Nitesh Tiwari, an IIT Bombay passout, taps into this nostalgia and presents us Chhichhore, to evoke our college memories. College dramas are something that the audience, no matter the generation, have always leaned on.

It's the safest bet for a successful film. Some hostel pranks, a college romance, promises to keep in touch with friends, a sports tournament, a tragedy - and you have got yourself a full-on entertainer. (And once in a lifetime, you also have a 3 Idiots. But once in a lifetime.)

Director Nitesh Tiwari, back on the director's chair after the massive blockbuster Dangal, does all of that. He is that first-bencher who would meticulously take down all notes point-by-point and vomit them back on the answer sheet sans any creativity. Chhichhore is a classic case of that very learning the formula to success by rote but not knowing how to apply it in real life syndrome.

The film starts with Aniruddh and Maya's (Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor) son involved in a tragedy after failing to secure a coveted seat in India's top engineering college, unlike his father and mother, who were rank holders. This leads to a reunion between Aniruddh and his college friends - Varun Sharma as Sexa, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Derek, Naveen Polishetty as Acid, Tushar Pandey as Mummy and Saharsh Shukla as Bevda.

The gang starts telling stories of their eventful college life to the kid, who can speak clearly in the film despite the circumstances, hoping that their story can improve his condition. So we go into flashback and see the actors narrate to Aniruddh and Maya's son, and us, tales of their lively college life.

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The tone of the film is as inconsistent as it can be. In one scene, you will see Sushant sobbing while talking to his son, and in the next, he is planning pranks with his friends in college. The transition is not seamless. Director Nitesh Tiwari aims to have both - past and present - tracks run parallel to each other, but it simply doesn't work. The sudden change of the background score from melancholic tunes to upbeat music too doesn't help the audience understand what Nitesh is trying to do with the film.

College dramas like these require strong performances, with the story needing the lead actors help propel the film. But in Chhichhore, Sushant and Shraddha will leave you hanging. It's the film's supporting cast, a shoutout to Varun Sharma, that carries the burden of the entire film on their shoulders.

Sushant's performance as the middle-aged father is nothing less than a caricature. Even when the doctor explains to him his son's condition, he sits there with a blank expression. He sobs, tries to wipe his tear-less eyes, but just fails to convince the audience that he is heartbroken.

Shraddha, as Maya, isn't much convincing either. The actress has one expression for every mood, and by now, we have seen too much of that one expression. Along with that, the film's script also limits her character to being just a pretty face who is always present to cheer for her boyfriend from the stands.

Varun Sharma delivers yet another remarkable performance in Chhichhore. He gets the best punchlines in the film and he delivers them in his own unique style. Naveen Polishetty and Tushar Pandey also leave an imprint with their performances.

The writing isn't all too sloppy. Some scenes will manage to you crack you up, but they are stuffed with cliches. Imagine every punchline that a college drama can have and some more. Now imagine all of them stuffed into a film. Chhichhore is that.

Chhichhore delivers an important message on exam pressure, quite literally, with Sushant enunciating the message in a speech just in case you didn't get it even after 2 hours of seeing the same. The film feels like a missed opportunity. Director Nitesh Tiwari had a subject that appealed to all generations, but he fails to create that magic that a memorable college drama should have had.

Chhichhore is a one-time watch and is for those who are are still hung up on their college life. But it is no 3 Idiots. You might want to call your college buddies after the film.

2.5 stars out of 5 for Chhichhore.

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Tahir Bhasin, Navin Polishetty, Tushar Pandey, Saharsh Kumar Shukla, Prateik Babbar

In Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari's new film Chhichhore, nostalgia is the sauce that brings flavour to a fairly straightforward story. A bunch of friends in their forties reunite some 20 years after they passed out of engineering college to help their own in the time of crisis.

But from its very opening scene in which a student, seeking a break from his books late at night, sets off a full-blown 'water war' in the hostel, you're transported to the wonder years of these friends as they look back fondly at their best times.

Such is the tone and treatment of the film that it'll trigger a flood of memories for anyone who's lived on campus. For those that haven't, it evokes an unmistakable feeling of having missed out on a life-shaping experience. But frankly, anyone who's been to college will have no trouble recognising friends, acquaintances, or even oneself among the film's canvas of characters.

Surely we all knew a Sexa growing up – the porn-obsessed fella hiding a stash of nudie mags under his mattress, his mind preoccupied with one thing alone. Or the over-protected child-man struggling to adjust to a world beyond his home, who earns the nickname Mummy; the perennially pissed-off buddy with the acid tongue aka Acid; the genius with a drinking problem, Bewda; or Derek, the 'stud' who believes he was cut out for bigger things; Maya, the campus hottie desired by all, and Anni, the seemingly regular Joe who somehow fits perfectly into this circus.

Tiwari, who has co-written the film with Nikhil Mehrotra and Piyush Gupta, graduated from IIT Bombay himself, and he mines his student years for humour, emotion, and life lessons. The lines have an authentic, conversational quality to them, the language isn't sanitised, and profanities, double meanings, and innuendo flow freely in the exchanges between friends.

Many of the scenarios are outright hilarious – like the one in which the alcoholic friend Bewda is thrashed during a train journey – but others are cheerfully silly. Like the ragging scenes in which seniors demand that a "freshy" perform a pole dance... with the catch being that one of the lanky guys will play the pole. Or the old favourite – an order to fetch the clothes of female students from the girls hostel. The truth is that these gags land too, because who can't relate to doing dumb things at that age?

As if to underline an overarching message of this film – that failure doesn't define you – Chhichhore becomes an underdog sports film in its final act. There's more than a whiff of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander here, with the 'losers' going up against the undefeated champions. But it's especially interesting that the loser gang from the ill-reputed Hostel 4 will do anything it takes to win, be it cheating, sledging, or faking injury on the football field so the opponent can be sent out on a red card.

It's there that the film's heart resides. In the fact that this isn't a story of heroes. It's merely a story about a group of friends who decided to savour life's little moments instead of getting caught up in the rat race. It is in this tiny detail that the film is also different from 3 Idiots. That film encouraged you to pursue what you love. Chhichhore merely says take a beat, resist the pressure that academics and life will put on you, forge enduring friendships, make lasting memories.

As romantic as these notions may sound, Tiwari conveys them with sincerity. It's why you're willing to overlook many of the film's shortcomings. Like the tacky make-up for the characters' older versions, many of whom appear to be balding in exactly the same way.

Or the fact that the film is clearly sexist. It's true that male students vastly outnumber females on engineering campuses, but there's literally not a single other female character in sight – teacher or student – apart from Shraddha Kapoor's Maya.

The weakest link, however, are the regular cutaways to the present day emergency. They feel obligatory, as if to routinely remind us that this film is about more than just fun and games. The cautionary message about the pressure of high grades that we put on our children is well intentioned but might have felt less pat and preachy if delivered with some subtlety.

Chhichhore rises above these flaws. Because Tiwari gives us charming characters that are the glue in this film with a threadbare plot. Varun Sharma is especially terrific as Sexa, the boy with sex on his mind constantly.

Tahir Bhasin nicely channels Derek's wounded pride, and Navin Polishetty as Acid and Tushar Pandey as Mummy are in solid form. Shraddha Kapoor matches the boys step for step, and is impressively restrained in the older portions. Sushant Singh Rajput brings a winning boyish quality to the younger Anni, transforming seamlessly into the older version of the character, whom we catch at a difficult time in his life.

The film is all about its characters, frankly, and the hoops they're made to jump. In them you'll likely find traces and memories of your own youth. I'm going with three-and-a-half out of five for Chhichhore; it's good, harmless fun. I had a big smile plastered on my face throughout, and I think you will too.

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Naveen Polishetty

What were your college days like? Mine were a blur of bad jokes, glorious friendships, heady romances, illicit pastimes and mostly forgettable lectures despite which, somehow we came away with an education. Chhichhore encapsulates all of this. Director Nitesh Tiwari creates a cocktail of nostalgia, relationships, family drama and on-the-nose messaging that wobbles precariously but eventually it lands. You walk away wanting to be friends with some of these characters – especially Varun Sharma’s Sexa, who I think deserves his own spin-off film. In college, Sexa is called ‘Hawas ka papita’ and Varun nails this lovely phrase with his wonderfully louche expressions. He delivers one of the film’s best lines – “Engineering life main do cheezein sabse important hain – brain aur bunty.” Bunty of course being your privates. But when we see Sexa as a grown up, he’s sitting in London discussing global trends. I want to know how that happened.

The one-line pitch for Chhichhore would be Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar meets 3 Idiots meets Student of the Year. College friends reunite because one of them is facing a crisis – Anni’s son Raghav is in hospital, fighting for his life. To bolster his spirits, they start to recount their time together when they were engineering students, living in the H4 hostel. The H4 boys were unanimously dubbed losers because the hostel always came last in the General Championship – a college competition in which 10 hostels competed in 30 sports over 2 months. But these losers decide that they will change the narrative. The screenplay ping-pongs between college days and present crisis – the journeys mirror each other, down to the dialogue. So when one character says something in the hospital, the retort comes in a scene in the past because the situations are so similar in spirit. And vice-versa.

The writers Piyush Gupta, Nikhil Mehrotra and Nitesh stitch the screenplay like a tapestry. It’s clever but too neat. And it gets predictable very quickly. It doesn’t help that the scenarios in the film aren’t new. We’ve seen all of this before – the nerdy losers versus the more entitled and affluent bullies, the good-natured ragging, the canteen romances, the bonding that creates a family. There is little in terms of craft to dazzle you. The music by Pritam is passable but not sticky.  And the film, even when dealing with issues like ragging or the pressure to achieve, stays in a sanitized space – there is calamity but no darkness. Despite the obvious bumps, what keeps Chhichhore afloat is the sincerity in its messaging, the characters and the performances.

We’ve all known guys like this – Acid (Naveen Polishetty), the boy who can’t speak without swearing, Derek (Tahir Raj Bhasin) the jaded senior, Bevda (Saharsh Kumar), who is basically Devdas without the angst.  He’s always drunk. And my favorite Mummy (Tushar Pandey) who embodies better than anyone else the awkwardness and vulnerability of youth. Sushant Singh Rajput as Anni and Shraddha Kapoor as Maya don’t blend into the surroundings as easily as the others.  He’s too confident and she’s too lacquered. But they make up for this in their older avatars. Though Shraddha struggles with an underwritten role – Maya seems sour even before they are struck by tragedy. But Sushant blossoms into the father struggling to make right his relationship with his son. His climatic monologue hits home.The prosthetics aren’t bad though did all of them need to have receding hairlines?

These actors and characters hold together the flimsy plot. Nitesh, Nikhil and Piyush also don’t let the jokes sag. Pay attention to the supporting characters – like the guy in charge of student accommodation and the hostel cook. Each face is a find. The one-liners keep coming so that even when the film tests your patience – and let me assure you that it does, the championship games especially are over-stretched – you keep rooting for these people to succeed.

Especially for Raghav, played by Mohammad Samad. He looks like a dark-eyed, older version of Jugal Hansraj from Masoom.  You know what that means.  Basically, he grabs your affection from the first scene and doesn’t let go. He’s earnest and heartbreakingly sweet. We want to believe that once upon a time, we were all as unspoiled.

Chhichhore allows us to revisit that first flush of youth. The film never matches the the inspired grunge vibe of In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones (1989) or the magic of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. But it’s a satisfying journey back to woh din!

Fox Star Studios and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’s Chhichhore (UA) is the story of a group of college friends who were known as losers during their hostel days and how their story of fighting against all odds but never giving up encourages someone to not give up hope.

College friends Anirudh alias Anni (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Maya (Shraddha Kapoor) had gotten married years ago but are now divorced. They have a son, Raghav (Md. Samad), who lives with the father. But Raghav also keeps meeting Maya. Raghav has appeared for an entrance examination and is extremely nervous about his results. Anni is confident that Raghav would make it in the entrance examination and tries to give him pep talk so that his nervousness reduces. What happens on the day of the results? Does Raghav make it in the merit list?

While in college, Anirudh had a group of close friends, most of who were known more by their nicknames than their real names. Sexa (Varun Sharma), Derek (Tahir Raj Bhasin), Mummy (Tushar Pandey), Acid (Naveen Polishetty) and Bevda (Saharsh Kumar Shukla) were Anni’s close friends. All of them stayed in Hostel no. 4 of their college. Hostel no. 4 was considered the hostel of losers and failures. Anni was fond of Maya (Shraddha Kapoor) who stayed in the Girls’ Hostel. Maya was also attracted towards Anni and, therefore, became a part of the Hostel 4 group.

Raggie (Prateik Babbar) had tried to get Anni into Hostel no. 3 when he had gotten to know that he was a fine sportsman. But rather than leave his friends of Hostel 4, Anni had preferred to stay with them. This had agitated Raggie no end as he had wanted Anni in his team. Anyway, as the sports tournaments had approached, Hostel 4 was pitted against Hostel 3. Since Hostel 4 was at the back foot, Anni had thought of smart ways to play with the psyche of the players from Hostel 3. His modus operandi had worked to a large extent and players of Hostel 4 had performed pretty well. While Anni was quite a champion in volley ball, Derek and Acid were sprinters, and Bevda was a champion in chess. What was the outcome of the sports tournaments?

Years have elapsed. All the friends, busy in their own lives and with their respective families, now meet at Anni’s house for a purpose. What is the intention of the friends to meet after so many years?

The story, written by Nitesh Tiwari, Nikhil Mehrotra and Piyush Gupta, is both, interesting and engaging. It has a message that is so relevant to everybody that it will strike a chord in every heart. In fact, the message (not being revealed) raises a pertinent question which is so true and which one has, somehow, never bothered to answer, that the entire drama becomes novel and relatable. The screenplay, also penned by the trio is laced with so much humour that it keeps the audience entertained throughout. Yes, the first half seems a little scattered and it appears that the connection between the past and the present is a bit far-fetched but as the second half starts, the viewers forget about the far-fetchedness and get so involved in the happenings that it doesn’t really matter whether the past is less or more relevant to the present. The humour is so fresh that it evokes laughter at a number of places. The romantic track of Anni and Maya is quite understated but it sits well with the overall drama which is basically about friends and their spirit of never saying die. If the screenplay thrives on humour between bosom pals when they were in college, it also has emotions when they meet in the present times. The scene in which Anni breaks down and makes a pertinent point about how the human brain invariably thinks is not just very emotional but it is also so thought-provoking that it makes the viewers wonder why nobody ever thought about it although it is so relevant to every person’s life. This, in fact, is the pertinent message that the film gives the elders, but the message will also appeal to youngsters as it talks about them too. The scene in which Mummy speaks to his son in the USA soon after Anni’s breakdown is extremely emotional and will bring tears to people’s eyes. There are a couple of other emotional scenes too. The film often reminds of 3 Idiots.

Rather than the entire past being narrated as a flashback, the screenplay oscillates between the past and the present so that the audience gets to see the friends in their youth alongside in their middle age. The age difference is visible in each character because of their changed features in their middle age as also their different get-ups to show the time elapse. The screenplay is, therefore, not only very engaging but also quite fresh. The post-interval portion, by its very nature, is more exciting because it concentrates on different sports and the adrenaline rush that goes with them.

Dialogues, written by Nitesh Tiwari, Nikhil Mehrotra and Piyush Gupta, are very effective. The comic ones are truly funny while the philosophical and serious ones are heart-touching.

Sushant Singh Rajput does a fine job as Anni. He plays the character with understanding. As the young Anni, he tends to contort his face a bit too often, which takes something away from his performance. Sushant doesn’t need to make facial contortions to convey emotions because even without them, he successfully conveys what’s meant to be conveyed to the audience or the characters. The scene in which he talks gibberish to Maya when he goes with Mummy to get female clothing items from her is terrific and will bring the house down with laughter. In the older role, he is very nice and lends the character of the older Anni a lot of grace. Shraddha Kapoor is lovely as Maya. If she is nice and bubbly as the college-going Maya, she is suitably restrained as the older Maya. Her costumes while she is a student are trendy and eye-catching. Varun Sharma is terrific as Sexa. He evokes a lot of laughter not just because of the comedy scenes he gets but also due to his perfect timing. Tahir Raj Bhasin looks handsome as the young Derek. His acting in both the roles (young and middle-aged) is very good. Tushar Pandey is excellent as Mummy. He evokes tears from the viewers’ eyes in one scene. Naveen Polishetty is natural to the core in the role of Acid. It is delightful to see him sink into the character. Saharsh Kumar Shukla leaves a fine mark as Bevda. Prateik Babbar makes his mark as Raggie. He looks very handsome too. Md. Samad is cute and expressive as Raghav. Shishir Sharma (as Dr. Kasbekar), Saanand Verma (as the clerk for the engineering hostel allotment), Sanjay Goradia (as Mummy’s father), Sanjay Borkar (as the Hostel 4 warden), Rohit Verma, Sajan Desai, Vishal Mahala (all three as Anni’s friends), Adarsh Gautam (as Sexa’s father), Anchal Srivastava (as Maya’s friend, Anjali), Mudrika Gupta (as Maya’s friend, Madhavi), Kritika Pande (as Maya’s friend, Neha), Anil Jatav (as the milkshake boy in the canteen), Raziya Sultana (as the thin weightlifting girl), Gautam Gopal Ahuja (as Raghav’s friend, Mohit), Rishabh Joshi (as Raghav’s friend, Sooraj), Abhilasha Patil (as the nurse), Gopal Verma (as the ward boy), and the rest lend very good support.

Nitesh Tiwari’s direction is excellent. He has narrated the subject in such an entertaining manner that the film will appeal to audiences of all age groups. His mix of entertainment with a pertinent message to parents is superb. Pritam’s music is good; the ‘Fikar not’ song is the best number in the film. But the absence of hit songs is sorely felt. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are meaningful and weighty. Song picturisations (by Bosco-Caesar) are good, especially the ‘Fikar not’ song, picturisation of which is extraordinary. Sameer Uddin’s background music is impactful. Amalendu Chaudhary’s cinematography is superb. Sunil Rodrigues’ action scenes and stunts are exciting. Laxmi Keluskar’s production designing is of a fine order. Charu Shree Roy’s editing is crisp.

On the whole, Chhichhore is a hit. It has a superb combination of enjoyable entertainment and a wonderful message. It will work its magic on the viewers and turn out to be a big box-office winner.

Released on 6-9-’19 at Regal (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Shringar Films Pvt. Ltd. Publicity: good. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was above average at most of the places.