Film Review: HICHKI
Rating: 3.5/5
118 minutes
Director: Sidharth Malhotra
“The defect is in my speech, not in my intellect”, says newbie teacher Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) to her adversary, senior colleague Wadia (Neeraj Kabi), a few minutes into the film. That just about sums up the style and substance of Hichki.
Mathur suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome — a neurological disorder that causes involuntary twitches and sounds. Rusticated from several schools as a student, she had promised herself that come what may, she would join the teaching profession. Her burning desire comes to fruition when her Alma Mater, St. Notker’s school hires her after numerous aborted attempts elsewhere.
The opening pre-credits sequence sets the tone for the film — a strong-willed woman who’s ready to retort and stand up to anybody. She’s assigned class 9F, a batch of 14 recalcitrant girls and boys from the slums who had to be accommodated in school for reasons explained in the film. How she surmounts opposition from within the school and turns around the unruly delinquents in less than her stipulated request of four months forms the crux of the story.
It’s Rani Mukerji’s film all the way and the hiatus of three-and-a-half years (Mardaani, 2014) hasn’t ebbed her acting skills. The students too have given a reasonably good performance. Neeraj Kabi is cast well and scores high as her antagonist. Naina comes from a troubled family and the scenes with her brother are shot well.
But even with a compact runtime of 118 minutes, the film seems to drag a bit in the second half. St. Xavier’s school, near Metro cinema, has been attempted to pass off as St. Notker’s school. The background and David & Co.’s calendar are sure giveaways.
And when will our music directors learn that soft subdued background music can be more effective than the synthesiser-effected loud score?
Though the subject of intractable students has been attempted in Hollywood (To Sir, With Love) and in Hindi films too (Imtihaan, Anjaan Raahen — both in the 70s, it’s an audacious move by Rani Mukerji to have played the role of a teacher with an impediment.
