Chhichhore meaning ‘Uncivilised’ is a 2019 Comedy film directed by Nitesh Tiwari, and 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, Tushar Pandey and Saharsh Kumar Shukla in the lead roles, the film tells the story of Anirudh Pathak, a middle-aged man whose son Raghav tries to commit suicide, when he finds out he has failed the exam and in the fear of being called a ’Loser’.
Raghav remains in a critical condition, so that Anirudh decides unfolding his 20 years old story of being an Engineering student enrolled in Hostel 4 (H4) where ’losers’ exist. Meanwhile Anirudh telling his story, his gang of friends also join with him to complete the story from which they never fail to forget the lessons taught.
Chhichhore was theatrically released in India on September 6, 2019. Later it was released on Video on demand on Hotstar on November 1, 2019. The film proved to be a great success with a gross of 576 million INR on its opening week. With a budget of 500 million INR, Chhichhore earned 2.15 billion INR worldwide emerging as a blockbuster.
Critical Response
Chhichhore was able to encounter mostly positive reviews from the critics. The Times of India, with an average rating of three and a half stars out of five states, “’Chhichhore’ has a relevant message on the inherent attitude towards academic success and failure that will connect with many youngsters and parents today. It 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 it certainly worth watching.”
Focusing on the college life portrayed in the film, Mid-Day keeps a note saying, “Chhichhore is the sort of film that we can all add to, with our own versions of the same story - a user-generated series, if you like. This has the makings of one. You’ve probably navigated the same rite of passage - from ragging to enrichment, through deep bonds/ friendships that last forever.” Chhichhore receives a rating of four stars out of five from Mid-Day.
With a rating of two and a half stars out of five, India Today states, “Chhichhore delivers an important message on exam pressure, quite literally, with Sushant enunciating the message in a speech just in case you didn’t get it even after two hours of seeing the same. The film feels like a missed opportunity. Director Nitesh Tiwari had a subject that appealed to all generations, but he fails to create that magic that a memorable college drama should have had.”
Adding credits on the direction of the film, News 18 highlights the uniqueness of Nitesh Tiwari as the director of Chhichhore saying, Nitesh Tiwari has a flair for slice-of-life aam admi India stories and you can see his trademark style even in Chhichhore - lighthearted, nimble and making a pertinent point. Chhichhore is no paean to being a genius or the glowing success stories to be emulated. It is about the plucky losers who may lose the war and yet end up winning the battle.”
Awards
Chhichhore, being another extraordinary film directed by Nitesh Tiwari, received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi at the 67th National Film Awards announced in 2021. Being a blockbuster, Chhichhore received Bollywood Business Award at ETC Bollywood Business Awards 2020. It also received five nominations at 65th Filmfare Awards – Best Film, Best Director for Nitesh Tiwari and Best Story, Best Dialogue and Best Editing.