Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Chhalaang’ Movie Review

Rajkummar Rao’s latest, starring Nushrat Bharucha and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in fellow leads is all sporty and competitive.

Directed by Hansal Mehta, this film talks about how a PT teacher discovers his way into sports because of certain forces.

Directed by: Hansal Mehta
Run Time: 2h 16m
Ratings: 2.5/5
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Storyline

Montu (Rajkummar Rao), a sports teacher who thinks the best of himself and is extremely indolent, finds himself thrown into situations that he needs to get out of under any circumstance. If you think life is unfair, wait until you see this chap! With a job on the line and the girl he likes on the verge of leaving him, Montu has it rough in the film but finds a way to work through it.

Montu is a PT teacher at a local Haryana school and finds ways to not get his hands dirty with work. Then comes in Neelima (Nushrat Bharucha), the woman of his dreams, whom he wants to court.

However, his arch-nemesis, another PT teacher in competition named Inder Mohan Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) gets in the way and manages to almost steal Neelima and Montu’s job.

Fueled up with rage and hurt by the sudden turn of events in his life, Montu decides to take his job seriously and train his students.

Engaging or a little too ‘Time Pass’?

Yes, the movie did end with Montu getting all fired up and motivated into actually working and achieving his rewards but when it comes to how the story was portrayed, it was a little disappointing and bland.

The film had no wow factor which makes the audience go wide-eyed and want more.

Chhalaang also has a stereotypical view on women as Neelima is being treated as the object to be won here. The motivator for Montu’s success is the girl he is in love with. This gives the viewer the impression that Neelima was the object the protagonist had to win back.

Acting

As per usual, Rajkummar Rao was the highlight of the film with his versatility. Nushrat’s performance was commendable but her ‘northern’ accent made the character sound a little ‘cringy’. Mohammed Zeeshan was a sight for sore eyes and his persona made him look less like the bad guy but more like the dangerous badass whom Rao had to dodge.

Hit or Miss?

The film isn’t exactly a hit but the first time watch wasn’t too bad either.