What an endearing sight it was to
wake up and see the Prime Minister of the country consoling and giving courage
to the ISRO chairman after the chairman broke down following the failure to
communicate with Chandrayan -2’s Vikram Lander. But in a country paranoid with
success , where winner takes it all and no one remembers the runners up , this
unfortunately is an aberration and not the norm. And hence student suicide is an epidemic that
claims one life, every hour , in this country. Personally , I grew up in a set
up where failure was simply unacceptable and was treated as the end of the road
. Yet ,in life , I have failed more often than any of my contemporaries . While
I had the tenacity and resilience to fight back after every single failure with
more vigour to prove myself and to not give up , often these struggles end up
being long and lonely. And in vulnerable moments like these the parents or the partner or the friends or the family play
a crucial role in explaining the inevitability of failure in life and the importance
of effort . Failure is an integral part of life and every failure should be
treated not as the end of the road but as the beginning of yet another exciting
journey to explore one’s potential. In our quest to win we must never forget
the joy of living.
Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore is a
film about friendship, failure, fun and nostalgia all rolled into one. Tiwari
beautifully fits the story into the frame of its genre , straightaway
transporting you into a nostalgic world full of unbridled optimism . If you have ever lived in a campus , you will
readily identify with Tiwari’s characters . In fact you may end up being
reminded of the Anni, Derek, Acid , Sexa or Maya from your batch. Chhichhore depicts
the unhinged, carefree campus life when life was a tad more than just chasing
daily targets or making those ugly spread sheets .
Tiwari keeps the story simple and
packs it with lots of punchlines using the campus lingo. The film opens with a
water war in a premier engineering campus in Mumbai and time travels twenty
years ahead when Ani and Maya’s adolescent son Raghav attempts suicide and
lands up in an ICU. From there on it cuts between past and present , imparting
some life lessons ,packed with some fine punchlines and whacky humour . The enduring
friendship that one makes during college life is portrayed beautifully . The actors
are brilliant while playing their youthful characters.
However what pulls down
Chhichhore is some really sloppy make up and Shraddha Kapoor. Even the constant
shift between a glorious past and a gloomy present looks a bit contrived .
However these misfires seems forgivable thanks to Tiwari’s earnest attempt at story
telling.
Chhichhore is not about winning .
It is about the attempt to win and in the process living those moments and making lasting
memories . Life is never about winning and losing , its all about living . So
once in a while step aside , put that feet away from the accelerator , give
expectations a break and take a moment to live and yes don’t burden others with
your expectation . Let them live too. They will figure a way out ! And yes
there is no shame in losing as long as one has given his best and had enjoyed
the process.
I will go out with 3 out of 5 for
this bunch of losers , who may have lost a match but ended up winning million hearts
!
