Chhalaang
Chhalaang (transl. Leap) is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language sports comedy drama film directed by Hansal Mehta.[3] It is produced by Ajay Devgan, Luv Ranjan, Ankur Garg and presented by Bhushan Kumar.[4] Chhalaang stars Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub.[5]
Chhalaang | |
---|---|
Release poster | |
Directed by | Hansal Mehta |
Produced by | |
Written by | Luv Ranjan Aseem Arrora Zeishan Quadri |
Starring | |
Music by | Hitesh Sonik Guru Randhawa–Vee Yo Yo Honey Singh Vishal–Shekhar |
Cinematography | Eeshit Narain |
Edited by | Akiv Ali Chetan Solanki |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Amazon Prime Video |
Release date |
|
Running time | 136 minutes[2] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Principal photography commenced in last quarter of 2018.[6] Initially named Turram Khan, Chhalaang was wrapped up in August 2019.[7] Initially scheduled for a theatrical premiere, it was directly released online on Amazon Prime Video on 13 November 2020, coinciding with Diwali.[1]
Plot
Mahender Singh Hooda aka Montu is a lazy, uninspired, and unprofessional physical training instructor (PTI) at a school in Haryana, a job he got courtesy of his father Kamlesh Singh Hooda's influence as a lawyer. He lives with his parents and his brother and spends most of his time hanging out and messing around with his teacher-buddy, Mr. Shukla. When Neelima Mehra arrives in Montu's school as a new computer teacher, Montu finds himself falling in love with her, and the two start to grow very close when she tells her nickname Neelu.
To his surprise, Montu finds out that the school hired a new PTI, Inder Mohan Singh, as the government required PTIs to have a physical education degree, which Montu didn't have. Begrudgingly, Montu accepts a role as Inder Mohan's assistant. Montu quickly realizes that Inder Mohan is a much better PT teacher than him, and gets even more irked when Neelu starts spending more time with Inder Mohan. One day, Inder Mohan keeps Montu's brother, Babloo, pinned to the ground as a punishment for not paying attention. This leads to a fight between Montu and Inder Mohan, after which Montu quits his job at the school.
Montu soon realizes that he cannot quit his job, and returns to the school to challenge Inder Mohan with a three sport competition: basketball, a 400m relay race, and kabaddi. Montu and Inder Mohan would coach the two separate groups of students participating. Whomever's team won the competition would stay as the PT teacher, while the other would have to leave, and Inder Mohan accepts the challenge. Montu foolishly lets Inder Mohan choose his team first in an attempt to impress Neelu by showing her his humility, and it backfires on him when he is left with a significantly weaker team.
As Montu starts to lose hope, Neelu comes to his side and helps him coach his team. She advises him to choose several girls for his team, which he does. Then, she helps him implement very unorthodox training regimes, such as running from guard dogs to increase speed, catching loose chickens to increase agility, and dribbling a basketball through a cow dung minefield to increase dribbling ability. Their efforts pay off, however, the children's parents start to revolt, saying that the competition is dragging their children's focus away from studies. Montu's father with the help of Neelu manage to get them back on board by using blackmail and threatening to re-open existing legal cases against them.
At the competition, Inder Mohan's team barely beat Montu's team in basketball, but Montu's team wins the competition with close victories in the 400m relay race and kabaddi. Inder Mohan accepts his defeat and congratulates Montu. Since, he realises that Inder is a much better coach than him, Montu proposes the idea of working together with Inder Mohan, as he has to learn a lot from him. Montu thanks the students and their parents for their trust and dedication. He then declares his love for Neelu, and she accepts his love proposal .
Cast
- Rajkummar Rao as Mahender "Montu" Singh Hooda, a physical training instructor (PTI)
- Nushrat Bharucha as Neelima "Neelu , Mehta , a computer teacher in the same school( later becomes Montu 's wife)
- Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Inder Mohan Singh, senior PTI in Montu's school
- Saurabh Shukla as Mr. Shukla, a former Hindi teacher and former principal of Montu's school
- Ila Arun as Usha Gehlot, the principal of Montu's school
- Satish Kaushik as Kamlesh Singh Hooda, a retired lawyer and Montu's father
- Jatin Sarna as Dimpy( chef in a small snacks shop )
- Naman Jain as Babloo Singh Hooda, Montu's younger brother and student of Singh Sir
- Garima Kaur as Pinky Yadav
- Baljinder Kaur as Kamla Singh Hooda, Montu's mother
- Suparna Marwah as Sakshi S. Mehra, Neelu's mother
- Rajiv Gupta as Sanjay Mehra, Neelu's father
Production
Hansal Mehta announced the film on 10 August 2018 with the title "Turram Khan" and Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha in the lead roles. In 2019, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub joined the film to portray a supporting role.
Principal photography for the film began in late-2018. In June 2019, Rao and Mehta, along with Ayyub, were spotted filming a kabaddi scene in Mumbai's Film City.[8]
In December 2019, the title of the film was changed to "Chhalaang",[9] which means "Jump".[10]
Release
Initially planned for release on 31 January 2020, it was announced on 26 December 2019 that the film has been postponed to 13 March 2020. It was further scheduled to 12 June 2020.[11] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was again postponed.[12] Finally it was released on 13 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video coinciding with Diwali.[1]
Reception
Anupama Chopra Editor-in-Chief of Film Companion wrote, "Hansal Mehta and Rajkummar Rao constitute one of Hindi cinema’s most potent artistic collaborations. Their films – Shahid, for which Rajkummar won a National Award, City Lights, Aligarh, Omerta – are blistering, probing portraits of the state of our world. In Chhalaang, Hansal and Rajkummar attempt something more mainstream. They tell the uplifting story of a PT teacher in small-town Haryana, who finds his purpose in life through coaching the weakest kids in the school into a winning team. I suspect this conventional narrative went against their DNA. Chhalaang isn’t tear-your-hair-out awful. It’s just ordinary."[13]
Soundtrack
Chhalaang | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by | |
Released | 13 November 2020[14] |
Recorded | 2019 |
Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
Length | 12:40 |
Language | Hindi |
Label | T-Series |
Official audio | |
Chhalaang - Full Album on YouTube |
The film's music was composed by Hitesh Sonik, Guru Randhawa–Vee, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Vishal–Shekhar while lyrics written by Luv Ranjan, Guru Randhawa, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Alfaaz, Hommie Dilliwala and Panchhi Jalonvi.
The song "Deedar De" is a recreation of "Deedar De" from the film Dus by Vishal–Shekhar.[15] People online criticized Vishal-Shekhar for recreating their song, but the duo clarified that they did not recreate the song, they were credited because they composed the original.[16]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Care Ni Karda" | Alfaaz, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Hommie Dilliwala | Yo Yo Honey Singh | Sweetaj Brar, Yo Yo Honey Singh | 3:12 |
2. | "Teri Choriyaan" | Luv Ranjan, Guru Randhawa | Guru Randhawa–Vee | Guru Randhawa, Payal Dev | 2:55 |
3. | "Le Chhalaang" | Luv Ranjan | Hitesh Sonik | Daler Mehndi | 3:29 |
4. | "Deedar De" | Panchhi Jalonvi | Vishal–Shekhar | Asees Kaur, Dev Negi | 3:04 |
Total length: | 12:40 |
References
- "Coolie No. 1, Durgavati, Chhalaang among films to release directly on Amazon Prime Video India". First Post. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- "Chhalaang (2020)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- "Turram Khan: Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha to star in Hansal Mehta's comedy film". Deccan Chronicle. 10 September 2018.
- "Hansal Mehta's next: 'Turram Khan' with Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha". Scroll.in. 23 February 2019.
- "Rajkummar Rao And Nushrat Bharucha To Co-Star In Hansal Mehta's Turram Khan". NDTV. 10 September 2019.
- "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha to star in Hansal Mehta's upcoming comedy film Turram Khan". Firstpost. 10 September 2019.
- "Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha reunite for Hansal Mehta's comedy Turram Khan". India TV. 10 September 2018.
- "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha and Zeeshan Ayyub shoot for Turram Khan". Mumbai Mirror. Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha's Turram Khan gets new title Chhalaang; film to now release on 31 January, 2020". Firstpost. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- "Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha's Turram Khan is now Chhalaang". India Today. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha's Hansal Mehta family drama Chhalaang to now release on 12 June". Firstpost. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- "Nushrat Bharucha shares BTS picture from sets of 'Chhalaang'". Republic World. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- Chopra, Anupama (13 November 2020). "Chhalaang Movie Review". Film Companion. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- "Chhalaang – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". iTunes.
- "Chhalaang song Deedar De out: Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat give sassy twist to the foot-tapping number". India TV News. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- "Vishal-Shekhar distance themselves from Deedar De remix, say they were credited 'only because we composed the original'". Hindustan Times. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.