Metrics
Genre:
Drama, Coming-of-age, Bollywood (Hindi)
Rating:
8.5/10
Audience:
IF YOU’RE AN INDIAN KID IN HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE THIS IS MADE FOR YOU. Indian parents also. I think everyone who feels pressure from their ambitions would do well to watch also.
Rewatch Time:
Once a year, to keep the sentiment fresh. 2h30.
Winner:
Sexa (Varun Sharma)
Review
In honour of ‘3 Idiots’ and college movies everywhere, I present ‘Chhichhore’. I’m an Indian kid in university right now (off-campus, because pandemic) and I was super happy with my decision until I watched this movie - the spirit of Indian unis is so overpowering and familial that it’s impossible not to yearn for that camaraderie. Maybe it’s just me, since I’m the target audience. The core message of this film is this: you’re only a loser if you think you are, and fighting for yourself is all you can do - and it’ll be enough. Just don’t give up. And I think that’s a message that can be appreciated by everyone. Throw in a cute love story between Anni (Sushant Singh Rajput, who’s great, RIP) and Maya (Shraddha Kapoor, who I love) that’s actually mature enough to be a lesson in and of itself, and an absolutely wonderful supporting cast - Derek (Tahir Basin), Acid (Naveen Polishetty), Mummy (Tushar Pandey), and Bevda (Saharsh Kumar Shukla) - to the greatness that is Sexa, and you have a comedy classic with insane amounts of heart that touches on important issues in society and portrays an authentic (well, mostly, come on) Indian college experience.
Spoiler Territory
I have to say, that buzzer beater at the end of the basketball game could have gone either way, but I’m glad that’s the message that they went with. The nicknames from all the gang and the kids’ stress about all-india-ranks (btw good job as Raghav, Mohammad Samad) are super relatable, as is, sadly, the boy’s reaction to failure. I do wish they’d given Maya more to do, but it was 2h30, so I understand having to cut out some parts. Still, replaying the doctor scenes wasn’t too integral to the plot or pacing. Of course, the villain appreciating them in the end is a good moral ending, but I also would’ve liked to see a more concrete ending for Anni and Maya’s relationship. Apart from that, the end monologue was great. Oh also, there were basically no songs. Go figure. Anyway, it’s great, and this proves that movies don’t need songs to be good (@Bollywood). Don’t commit suicide, and in honour of Sushant, I hope you enjoy this one.