Chhichhore

Chhichhore (transl. Uncivilized) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language coming of age comedy-drama film directed by Nitesh Tiwari, written by Tiwari in association with Piyush Gupta and Nikhil Mehrotra, and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala under Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, with Fox Star Studios acquiring the distribution rights. Starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Naveen Polishetty and Tushar Pandey in the lead roles with Saanand Verma and Mohammad Samad in supporting roles, the film tells the story of Aniruddha "Anni" Pathak, a middle-aged divorcee whose son Raghav tries to commit suicide but survives, though he is in a critical condition for his unwillingness to live out of fear he would be called a "loser". Desperate, he goes against the wishes of his former girlfriend turned ex-wife Maya's wishes to recount his own journey in 1992 as a "loser" in a gang of six; as he continues along to convince Raghav, the other five receive news of the tragedy and decide to join their friend in his pain to complete a story they never fail to cherish as a lesson in their life.

Chhichhore
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNitesh Tiwari
Produced bySajid Nadiadwala
Written by
Starring
Music bySongs:
Pritam
Background Score:
Sameer Uddin
CinematographyAmalendu Chowdhury
Edited byCharu Shree Roy
Production
company
Distributed byFox Star Studios
Release date
  • 6 September 2019 (2019-09-06)[1]
Running time
143 minutes[2]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹ 50 crore[3]
Box officeest. ₹200 crore[4]

Principal photography commenced in September 2018.[5] Chhichhore was released on 6 September 2019, receiving critical acclaim for its direction, acting, social message, and portrayal of hostel life in Indian colleges. It became commercially successful.[6] The film earned ₹2.15 billion (US$30 million) worldwide and received five nominations at the 65th Filmfare Awards – Best Film, Best Director for Tiwari, Best Story, Best Dialogue and Best Editing.

Plot

Aniruddh "Anni" Pathak is a divorced middle-aged man living with his teenage son Raghav, an aspiring engineer, who is awaiting the results of his entrance examination in the hope of enrolling in an Indian Institute of Technology. On the eve of the results, Anni gifts Raghav a bottle of champagne, promising him that they will celebrate his success together, unaware that Raghav is under intense pressure. The bottle of champagne only fuels Raghav's worries as to what will happen if he does not make it. The next day, while checking the results at his friend's apartment, Raghav finds out that he has not qualified for IIT in JEE – Advanced results and, afraid of being called a "loser", he deliberately slips off the balcony to commit suicide, but survives, although in a fatal state. Anni rushes to the hospital where he tries to comfort his ex-wife and Raghav's mother Maya. She blames Anni for not noticing how much pressure Raghav was in. Doctor Sunit Dev Kasbekar informs Maya and Anni that Raghav's condition is deteriorating as Raghav does not have the will to live. Realizing that his son is afraid of being called a "loser", Anni, who stumbles upon pictures of his college days, begins to recount the tales of his time in college in an attempt to rekindle hope in Raghav, who he wants to believe that his father, too, was once a "loser".

The story flashes back to 1992, when on the first day of college, Anni is allotted a room in the H4 hostel, which is infamous for housing "losers". The occupants of the H4 hostel have earned this tag for numerous unknown reasons, one of them being the poorest quality of mess food on the entire campus. Dissatisfied, he applies to change his hostel block although a clerk informs him that his application might take time. Meanwhile, senior H4 student Gurmeet "Sexa" Singh Dhillon pokes Anni the first time they meet, but they soon become friends, with Anni describing Sexa as a hypersexual senior who was obsessed with porn all the time.

At this point, Raghav has a convulsion, causing Anni and Maya to panic, but Dr. Kasbekar reveals that he is now conscious, though his condition is still the same. When he asks about "Sexa", though, Anni, convinced that Raghav was listening, goes in with Maya to meet Raghav, who doubts if it is indeed a true story. Anni, convinced that he just needs proof to make his plan work, eventually traces Sexa, who is currently working as a consultant in London, through a call, and informs him about the tragedy. Sexa postpones his work commitments and flies down to Mumbai to reunite with Anni and Maya, and seeing Sexa, an initially dismayed Raghav puts all his doubts to rest, as Sexa continues with the story.

Sexa narrates Anni's desperation to change his hostel, and in 1992 , during their first conversation at a canteen, they notice Maya for the first time.

As the story returns to present, Sexa narrates to Anni and Maya during a lunch break how he and a guy named "Acid" once received a funny pro-ragging request in 1992 from the father of a fresher named Sundar "Mummy" Shrivastava, a young introvert who is tied to his mother's apron strings and is very dependent on her. At this stage, Mummy joins Sexa in present day, working as an executive in the United States, which has thickened his accent. When both Anni and Sexa spill news of Acid's arrival, Mummy exclaims to Raghav that Acid is "bad news". Anni then describes "Acid" as a school topper who began flunking his college tests and developed a bitter, swearing tongue. A brief introduction for "Acid" soon pans back to Himanshu Deshmukh, Sexa's classmate, joining them in the hospital. All of them briefly reminisce the fun they had in their college days, showing their photo album to Raghav and teling him about Anni's newfound relationship with Maya back then, even as Dr. Kasbekar, time and again, informs them that Raghav's brain is swelling, and his condition doesn't show signs of improvement.

Meanwhile, back in 1992, super-senior student Raghuvir "Raggie" Chalkar, a hostelite of H3, which is known to be a world-class hostel and the absolute antithesis of H4, fast-tracks Anni's application and offers him to come to H3, but Anni has a sudden change of heart while discussing this with Maya, later rejecting the offer, much to the chagrin of Raggie, who reveals that H4 super-senior Derek D'Souza, a well-known athlete, has been "rotting" for the past three years after having similarly rejected a previous offer.

Derek is revealed to be a chain smoker, and as he reunites with Anni, a scene of their first meeting back in 1992 plays out, wherein Derek reveals that Raggie is a full-blown college bully who inducts talented students from other hostels into H3 and claims total credit for winning "GC". An initially surprised Anni soon learns that H4's "loser" status comes from its consistently worst performances over the years in the "GC", which stands for General Championship, an annual sports competition whence 10 hostels compete in 30 sports over a span of 2 months. Anni then convinces an initially skeptical Derek to try for one last time, and they begin a series of trials, hilariously failing in the bargain. After multiple attempts to find the right players fail, Derek gives the same reply to Anni as one that Dr. Kasbekar gives to him and Maya - that it has to be all about trying, for there's no other way.

Back at Anni's house, everyone is having a discussion, where Derek, Acid, Sexa and Mummy tell Anni and Maya that they'll be sticking around to support them after Anni requests them to leave due to the negative reports of Raghav's health, when just before everyone can assemble for dinner on the dining table, Anni and the "losers" find their long missing member, Sahil "Bewda" Awasthi, at Anni's doorstep. Bewda joins the group at the hospital the next day, and as is implied, he is shown to be the "Devdas-inspired drunkard" of the group, also a known chess champion.

They then recount that while preparing for the GC back in 1992, as they lose an initial string of matches in different sports, except carrom tournaments where Mummy leads them to the quarter-finals, all six boys decide to sacrifice things closest to them until they win the GC. Anni, in his bid, decides to temporarily boycott Maya, avoiding her constantly. However, this tactic hits back severely on their faces when Bewda has a relapse and is taken to hospital, causing the H4 team to lose hope. However, after a moment of introspection, Anni soon comes up with a trifecta of plans to defeat other hostels. His methods work, resulting in a number of massive victories for H4. During a celebration hangout at a bar, however, a violent clash between Raggie's gang and the leading losers culminates in Mummy injuring his finger, causing Mummy to lose the carrom semi-finals. Even as Acid consoles a crying Mummy, lack of representation in a weightlifting tournament instantly strikes an idea in Anni's head and he chooses Abhimanyu "Danda" Rathore, an H4 hostelite, to lose 2 kgs through training under Anni and Derek's supervision and compete in the 42 kg category. His hilarious victory is soon accompanied by Bewda's return from rehab, which the hostel celebrates. Bewda continues to reign in points for H4 in chess after his return, Derek's athletic skills prove a great asset for H4, and eventually, H4 makes it to the finals, pitted against H3, for the first time in college history.

Back in the present , Dr. Kasbekar asks Anni, Maya and friends to leave Raghav at this point, so that he can have his surgical operation done the next morning, and they all promise Raghav to wait patiently for the "climax". After the friends return to Anni's home, where he reconciles with Maya after an emotional breakdown, Anni's phone suddenly rings, wherein Kasbekar informs him that Raghav has had severe convulsions, and an immediate operation would have to be carried out. Anni requests 10 minutes for finishing the story, and Dr. Kasbekar, initially reluctant, gives in after Maya supports him.

They resume the story, where back in 1992 , a vexed Raggie, upon learning of H4's methods, decides to sabotage Bewda by offering him a bottle of alcohol, and deliberately has his teammate injure Derek's foot. Bewda initially appears to be drunk when Anni and Sexa are to receive him, and after Anni departs for the basketball final, tends to move towards a loss in the game, when he suddenly reveals that he isn't drunk, and that he had let his opponent make a huge mistake sacrificing his knight. Eventually, with both Acid and Derek winning the relay final, Bewda also wins the chess tournament. They reunite with Anni at the basketball court, and while Anni gets a penalty shot and aims for a 3-pointer, his shot misses by almost an inch, causing H4 to lose the GC by a close margin.

Back in the present, Raghav is shocked at this moment of loss and asks Anni if he felt like committing suicide at that moment, having lost a battle this close. Anni, Derek, Mummy, Acid, Sexa, Bewda and Maya take turns in replying with a "NO", as Anni then explains in a flashback to 1992 that Raggie publicly called them "champs" instead of "losers" for the first time, creating a loud wave of cheer for H4 and congratulating the team for putting up a good fight. Anni then explains to Raghav that the H4 hostelites were never called "losers" again, and that it is not one's results that decide whether he or she is a "loser", but rather one's efforts. Convincing him that he tried very hard, Anni asks Raghav to put up a strong face and fight all his challenges in life, including the operation, and as he is being taken to the operation theatre, Raghav visualizes Anni, Derek, Mummy, Acid, Sexa, Bewda and Maya in their younger selves cheering him to fight on.

A year later, a fully recovered Raghav attends his first day of college, requesting the viewers to never ask what the name of his college is or what his rank was since he is content that he is getting to live life and enjoy it to the maximum.

Cast

Losers

  • Varun Sharma as Gurmeet "Sexa" Singh Dhillon, Anni's senior who is obsessed with porn and is hyper-sexual all the time
  • Tahir Raj Bhasin as Derek D’Souza, Anni's senior who has great athletic skills and is a chain smoker
  • Naveen Polishetty as Himanshu "Acid" Deshmukh, Anni's senior who constantly flunks his tests and has developed a bitter, swearing tongue
  • Tushar Pandey as Sundar "Mummy" Srivastava, an introvert who is Anni's classmate and is tied to his mother's apron strings
  • Saharsh Kumar Shukla as Sahil "Bevda" Awasthi, Anni's super-senior who is an alcohol addict and also a known chess champion

Recurring Cast

  • Prateik Babbar as Raghuvir "Raggie" Chalkar, an H3 senior who detests Anni and Derek
  • Gautam Ahuja as Raghav's friend
  • Aashray Batra as Raghav's Senior
  • Rohit Chauhan as Criss Cross
  • Neil Dhokte as H3 Maradona
  • Abishek Joseph George as H3 Venkatesh "Venky"
  • Nalneesh Neel as H4 Pandu
  • Rudrashish Majumder as H4 Bagula Freshie
  • Nitin Kumar Singh as H4 Fish Freshie
  • Ranjan Raj as H4 Abhimanyu "Danda" Rathore
  • Raziya Sultana as H10 Dulari Pitroda
  • Adarsh Gautam as Sexa's father
  • Sanjay Goradia as Mummy's father
  • Vishal Gupta as H4 Kabaddi player who has asthma
  • Kamaal Malik as Professor Mishra
  • Shishir Sharma as Doctor Sunit Dev Kasbekar
  • Abhilasha Patil as Nurse
  • Saanand Verma as Hostel Staff member
  • Nishad Mandalkar as Football referee.

Production

Filming began on 30 September 2018, and first schedule was wrapped on 30 October 2018.[6] The second schedule started on 14 November 2018[5] and wrapped on 15 December 2018.[7][8] A portion of the film was shot at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.[9] The theme song was shot at cost of ₹90 million. This marks the reunion of choreographers Bosco–Caesar who have reunited after three years.[10] Shane Nigam was supposed to play the role of a Malayali student, but he opted out due to scheduling conflicts with Kumbalangi Nights.[11]

Marketing and release

In February 2019, the cast of the film donned their characters' costume video on the making of the poster on 30 May 2019.[12]

The film was theatrically released in India on 6 September 2019.[1] It was screened at 51st International Film Festival of India in January 2021 in Indian Panorama section.[13]

Home video

Later, it was released on Video on demand on Hotstar on 1 November 2019.[14]

Soundtrack
Chhichhore
Soundtrack album by
Pritam
Released31 August 2019[15]
Recorded2018–2019
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length29:25
LanguageHindi
LabelT-Series
Pritam chronology
Kalank
(2019)		 Chhichhore
(2019)		 The Sky Is Pink
(2019)
External audio
Audio Jukebox on YouTube

The soundtrack to the film was composed by Pritam, while the lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Woh Din"Arijit Singh4:18
2."Khairiyat"Arijit Singh4:40
3."Kal Ki Hi Baat Hai"KK4:00
4."Fikar Not"Nakash Aziz, Dev Negi, Antara Mitra, Amit Mishra, Sreerama Chandra, Amitabh Bhattacharya3:09
5."Control"Nakash Aziz, Manish J. Tipu, Geet Sagar, Sreerama Chandra, Amitabh Bhattacharya3:36
6."Woh Din" (Film Version)Tushar Joshi5:12
7."Khairiyat" (Bonus Track)Arijit Singh4:30
Total length:29:25

Reception

Chhichhore received generally positive reviews from critics.[16]

Sreeparna Sengupta of The Times of India gave the film three and half stars out of five, praising the performances of Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma and Tahir Raj Bhasin. Sengupta noted that the screenplay was predictable and the pace was slow, but the film had a theme of academic success that connected with youngsters and parents, writing that "It [Chhichhore] tells you that the journey is far more important than the destination and that losing is as critical a life lesson as winning. The film scores high on many accounts and is certainly worth watching."[17]

Rachel Saltz from The New York Times felt the film was "programmatic and timid".[18]

Box office

Chhichhore grossed ₹576 million on its opening week.

Accolades
Award[lower-alpha 1] Date of ceremony[lower-alpha 2] Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Filmfare Awards 15 February 2020 Best Film Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Nominated [19]
[20]
Best Director Nitesh Tiwari Nominated
Best Story Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Nikhil Mehrotra Nominated
Best Dialogue Nominated
Best Editing Charu Shree Roy Nominated
International Indian Film Academy Awards 27–29 November 2020 Best Story Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Nikhil Mehrotra Pending [21]
Mirchi Music Awards 19 February 2020 Best Background Score Sameer Uddin Nominated [22]
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India 21 December 2019 Favorite Movie Chhichhore – Nitesh Tiwari Won [23]
Favorite Movie Actress Shraddha Kapoor Won
Screen Awards 8 December 2019 Critics' awards for Best Film Nitesh Tiwari Nominated
Critics' awards for Best Actor Sushant Singh Rajput Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Varun Sharma Nominated
Zee Cine Awards 13 March 2020 Best Director Nitesh Tiwari Nominated [24]
Best Story Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Nikhil Mehrotra Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Best Actor – Female Shraddha Kapoor Nominated

Notes
  1. Awards, festivals and organizations are in Alphabetical order.
  2. Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

References
  1. "'Chhichhore' co-stars Sushant and Shraddha Kapoor plan to meet their friends on the special screening of their film". Times of India. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. Chhichhore, British Board of Film Classification, retrieved 3 September 2019
  3. "Chhichhore box office collection prediction: Lowest advance booking for Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor starrer ,India News, Business News | Zee Business". www.zeebiz.com.
  4. "Chhichhore Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  5. "Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor wrap up first schedule of Chhichhore shoot". Hindustan Times. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  6. "Dangal filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari's Chhichhore goes on floors". indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  7. "Its wrap up for Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor's Chhichhore". Times of India. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  8. "Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma start shooting for Nitesh Tiwari's Chhichhore". First Post. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  9. "Chhichhore poster out: Shraddha Kapoor and Sushant Singh Rajput starrer looks like a hilarious ride – see photo | Bollywood news". timesnownews.com. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  10. "Chhichhore: Shraddha Kapoor – Sushant Singh Rajput to shoot for a MASSIVE theme song on Rs. 9 cr set". Bollywood Hungama. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  11. George, Vijay (31 October 2018). "I want to entertain the viewers with my films, says Shane Nigam". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  12. "Here's how 'Chhichhore' cast transformed into their characters". Times of India. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  13. "Indian Panorama announces official selection for 51st International Film Festival of India, 2020". PIB GOI. 19 December 2020 – via Press release.
  14. Team, Tellychakkar. "Chhichhore to stream on Hotstar from THIS date". Tellychakkar.com. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  15. "Chhichhore – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jio Saavn.
  16. "Chhichhore movie review and rating: Critics give thumbs up to Nitesh Tiwari's directorial". IB Times. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  17. Sengupta, Sreeparna (6 September 2019). "Chhichhore". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  18. Rachel Saltz (8 September 2019). "'Chhichhore' Review: In Mumbai, Good Old-Fashioned Rules Days". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  19. "NOMINATIONS FOR 65TH AMAZON FILMFARE AWARDS 2020". Filmfare. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  20. "Technical Nominations for the 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020". Filmfare. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  21. "IIFA Awards 2020: Here are the nominations!". International Indian Film Academy Awards. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  22. "Nominations for the 12th Smule Mirchi Music Awards 2020". Mirchi Music Awards. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  23. "Kids have chosen their favourites at Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2019". The Live Nagpur. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  24. "Nominations for the Zee Cine Awards 2020". Zee Cine Awards. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
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