Chalaang

“Yahan ka chodiyen, pura desh ka yahi haal hai. Zyadathar logon ko yeh bhi pata nahi hain ki PTI banne ko degree bhi chahiye hoti hai”.

Truer words have not been spoken. I went to one of the best convent schools in the city. We had some of the best facilities, and a very well-balanced curriculum. I have always been very proud of the wholesome education I received as a student of my school. It wasn’t until I watched Chalaang did I realize the one thing my school was lacking, and that was sports. I did not learn a single sport in my eleven years of schooling there. While PE was very much a part of our curriculum, emphasis was more on structured exercises and marching. For games it was mostly free play. Though we had some sports equipment like volleyballs, badminton rackets, jump-ropes, tennikoit rings and frisbees, no one ever taught us how to play with them. If we already knew how to play, we could check out these equipment, if not we were left to make up our own games, while our teacher sat under the shade of a tree and watched. The only time my school took sports seriously was around sports-day. Even then it was mostly track and field related sports, the kind that did not require any special training. I have a feeling this was the case with many schools, after all we come from a country where the mindset of most adults is “PT karke kaunsa Bill Gates banna hai“. The sad part is that none of us saw anything wrong with it, just like how Montu, the namesake PTI of a local school, and other adults see no value for PE in the lives of the students of the school, in Chalaang.

Having landed the job due to his father’s recommendation, Montu (Rajkummar Rao) is lazy, unambitious, unmotivated and the worst example of what a teacher should be. He could care less about the fitness and well-being of his students, let alone their future. For him, his job is a paycheck that he receives for doing nothing. Sadly, he does not see anything wrong with his way of thinking or living, and you cannot really blame him for it, because he is a product of his surroundings. Montu is heavily influenced by the actions and thoughts of the people around him. With a Principal who uses him for personal errands instead of disciplining him for slacking off at work, a staff that still treats him as an ex-student and does not show the respect deserving of a teacher, a father who encourages his son to give up at the first sign of trouble, and a mentor / best friend who justifies all his actions, however wrong they maybe, in the name of moral support, Montu truly believes that there is nothing wrong with him or his life. That is, until Neelu (Nushrat Bharucha) a newly appointed Computer Science teacher enters his life. Unlike the other people in his life, Neelu does not entertain his BS. It is through her eyes that he finally starts to realize how very flawed his way of thinking is, forcing him to mend his ways. If Neelu makes him want to be a better person, it is Mr. Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), a newly appointed well-qualified PTI, that pulls him out of his comfort zone and makes him want to be a better teacher.

This journey of Montu, along with the change he brings about in the mindset of the students and parents regarding the importance of PT is what makes Chalaang worth a watch. Chalaang is available for online streamling on Amazon Prime Video.