Chidiakhana Movie Review: A lighthearted but predictable fare

Review: Almost a decade after Dil Dosti Etc (2007) and Issaq (2013), director Manish Tiwary’s latest offering Chidiakhana is a coming-of-age story of an underdog who makes a mark by following his passion and tenacity for football. The tone of this 114-minute film is lighthearted, and the dialogues are pedestrian but funny in parts.

The story follows Sooraj (Ritvik Sahore), a Bihari boy who addresses the camera directly and shares his life adventures. Sooraj’s migration to Mumbai with his mother, Bibha (Rajeshwari Sachdev), exposes him to school gangs that restrict him from pursuing his passion, football. Further, his world turns topsy-turvy when he discovers he cannot play football since the ground lease has expired and the government has given it to the builders. Predictably, he snatches a win by taking up a challenge to save the ground for children.

While the first hour of this film is timepass, the second half loses steam because of its repetitive narrative style. Also, you know from the beginning that this new boy in town would initially have obstacles but will soon be welcomed by everyone in his school and chawl. The section of the story about getting sports intermingled with other subplots concerning Bibha’s past, Sooraj’s competition in the gang, especially Babu (Jayesh Kardak), a football player-turned-local goon, Pratap (Prashant Narayanan), who assists and even trains Sooraj—feels banal and adds a little dimension to the film.

Ritvik Sahore perfectly adapts the demeanour of his character Sooraj, who is naive and quite centre-forward in both life and football. Avneet Kaur brings a breath of fresh air to the film as Sooraj’s crush, Mili. Rajeshwari Sachdev delivers a decent performance as Sooraj’s mother, although her character’s past could have been explored more effectively. Prashant Narayanan’s positive role as Pratap Bhai is a surprising and welcome change. The rest of the cast also contributes to pushing the narrative forward.

Director Manish Tiwary, who shares writing credits, too, presents a simple tale with a twisted angle of protagonists perceiving animals in humans, possibly to justify the film’s title, Chidiakhana. However, this twist doesn’t bring anything fresh or compelling to the screen for viewers.