Chhalaang

Chhalaang
Release poster
Directed by	Hansal Mehta
Written by	Luv Ranjan Aseem Arrora Zeishan Quadri
Produced by	Ajay Devgan Luv Ranjan Ankur Garg
Starring	Rajkummar Rao Nushrat Bharucha Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Saurabh Shukla
Cinematography	Eeshit Narain
Edited by	Akiv Ali Chetan Solanki
Music by	Score: Hitesh Sonik Songs: Hitesh Sonik Guru Randhawa–Vee Yo Yo Honey Singh Vishal–Shekhar
Production companies	T-Series Films Luv Films Ajay Devgn FFilms
Distributed by	Amazon Prime Video
Release date	13 November 2020 (2020-11-13)[1]
Running time	136 minutes[2]
Country	India
Language	Hindi

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]

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 Jhajjar, Haryana, a job he got as 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 Singh'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, Singh keeps Montu's brother, Bablu, pinned to the ground as a punishment for not paying attention. This leads to a fight between Montu and Singh, 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. Whoever'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 Singh 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, Singh'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 Singh is a much better coach than him, Montu proposes the idea of working together with Singh, 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

Main

• Rajkummar Rao as Mahender "Montu" Singh Hooda, a physical training instructor (PT teacher) (later becomes Neelu's husband)
• Nushrat Bharucha as Neelima "Neelu" Hooda(nee Mehra), 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

Recurring

• 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.^{[citation needed]} Finally it was released on 13 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video coinciding with Diwali.^[1]

Soundtrack

Chhalaang
Soundtrack album by Hitesh Sonik, Guru Randhawa–Vee, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Vishal–Shekhar
Released	13 November 2020 (2020-11-13)[12]
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.^[13] 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.^[14]

Track listing

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

Reception

The film currently holds a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[15]

References

1. "Coolie No. 1, Durgavati, Chhalaang among films to release directly on Amazon Prime Video India". First Post. 9 October 2020. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
2. "Chhalaang (2020)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
3. "Turram Khan: Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha to star in Hansal Mehta's comedy film". Deccan Chronicle. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
4. "Hansal Mehta's next: 'Turram Khan' with Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha". Scroll.in. 23 February 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
5. "Rajkummar Rao And Nushrat Bharucha To Co-Star In Hansal Mehta's Turram Khan". NDTV. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
6. "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha to star in Hansal Mehta's upcoming comedy film Turram Khan". Firstpost. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
7. "Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha reunite for Hansal Mehta's comedy Turram Khan". India TV. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
8. "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha and Zeeshan Ayyub shoot for Turram Khan". Mumbai Mirror. Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
9. "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha's Turram Khan gets new title Chhalaang; film to now release on 31 January, 2020". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
10. "Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha's Turram Khan is now Chhalaang". India Today. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
11. "Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Bharucha's Hansal Mehta family drama Chhalaang to now release on 12 June". Firstpost. 13 February 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
12. "Chhalaang – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". iTunes. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
13. "Chhalaang song Deedar De out: Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat give sassy twist to the foot-tapping number". India TV News. 10 November 2020. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
14. "Vishal-Shekhar distance themselves from Deedar De remix, say they were credited 'only because we composed the original'". Hindustan Times. 11 November 2020. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
15. "Chhalaang". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 December 2022.

External links

• Chhalaang at IMDb
• Chhalaang on Bollywood Hungama