| Hichki | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Siddharth P. Malhotra |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | Front of the Class byBrad Cohen |
| Produced by | Maneesh Sharma |
| Starring | Rani Mukerji |
| Cinematography | Avinash Arun |
| Edited by | Shweta Venkat Matthew |
| Music by | Songs: Jasleen Royal Score: Hitesh Sonik |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 116 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹20 crore [2] |
| Box office | ₹209.72 crore[3] |
Hichki (pronounced[ɦɪtʃʰkɪ];transl. Hiccup) is a 2018 IndianHindi-languagecomedy drama film co-written and directed bySiddharth P. Malhotra and produced byAditya Chopra andManeesh Sharma under the former's banner ofYash Raj Films. Based on American motivational speakerBrad Cohen's autobiographyFront of the Class, it starsRani Mukerji in her comeback appearance as Naina Mathur, an aspiring teacher who was rejected by many schools because of herTourette syndrome until she is accepted at the St. Notker's School, her alma mater. She is assigned to teach students from a nearby slum in the class 9F, which was created by theGovernment of India to fill a quota for the underprivileged.
Malhotra struggled to find a studio to financeHichki, since the film, which had begun scripting in 2013 after he acquired the rights toFront of the Class, was felt to lack potential for the box office. Chopra and Sharma later insisted on producingHichki with Malhotra as director.Principal photography was handled byAvinash Arun and took place inMumbai between April and June 2017, with Meenal Agarwal as the art director andVaibhavi Merchant providing the choreography. The film was edited by Shweta Venkat Matthew.Jasleen Royal and Hitesh Sonik composed the soundtrack and background score, respectively.
Hichki was released on 23 March 2018. Made on a production cost of₹20 crore (US$2.4 million), the film was a huge commercial success with a total gross of₹209.72 crore (US$25 million) with most of the revenues coming from China, making it Mukerji’s highest grossing film. It received mixed reviews, with praise mostly directed towards Mukerji's performance but criticism towards the plot's predictability. She received nominations for Best Actress at theFilmfare Awards,International Indian Film Academy Awards,Screen Awards, andZee Cine Awards, and won an award of the same category at theIndian Film Festival of Melbourne, where it was screened. The film was also shown at theInternational Film Festival of India, theShanghai International Film Festival, and theGiffoni Film Festival.
Naina Mathur, aBachelor of Education andMaster of Science, aims to become a teacher, but is repeatedly rejected as she suffers fromTourette syndrome, which causes her to make uncontrollable sounds likened tohiccups. Despite failing for 5 years, she is supported by her mother, Sudha, and her younger brother, Vinay, while her father, Prabhakar, sees little potential in the idea and expects her to take up abanking job. Naina eventually receives an offer at St. Notker's School to teach class 9F. Once she is employed as a teacher, however, she realises that the school was desperate to find a new teacher for 9F, as all other teachers had failed to control the class. Naina finds that the students are unruly, misbehaved, and visibly different. Shyamlal, the school'speon, informs her that the 9F students come from a nearbyslum and were admitted only to fill the government-prescribed quota for theunderprivileged after a previous municipality school on the St. Notker's football ground was closed due to mounting maintenance costs.
On her first day, Naina's students imitate and mock her. She decides to teach them interactively, determined to show resilience. The students prank her withliquid nitrogen which explodes, shattering thewindows. Naina prevents a mass expulsion by stating that the prank required planning, and if that can be guided, the class has potential. Wadia, the teacher of 9A, dislikes the 9F students. He informs Naina that his class comprises academically excellentprefects, but she assures him that her students will earn prefect badges as well. The school's annualscience fair project is assigned to 9A. Meanwhile, Naina teaches her students to be brave in pursuing knowledge and to realise their individual strengths. Aatish, the sole student who remains cold towards Naina, sabotages 9A's science project. This is discovered by Wadia, and the principal decides to expel 9F. Again, Naina prevents it by promising that they will pass theirexams, but is unable to prevent their suspension from attending school until then. Dejected, she informs them that they have shattered her efforts to help them.
Aatish faces ridicule from the rest of 9F and decides to apologise to Naina, and all of the 9F students study diligently. Shyamlal then supplies copies of the question paper to Aatish so that they would be able to cheat. When he presents the papers to his classmates, they refuse and he gives up on the idea as well. After the exam days, they pass but are accused of cheating when Shyamlal confesses to the plan, and the principal decides to expel them during the prefect-pinning ceremony. Akshay, one of the 9A students, reveals to Wadia that it was he who had bribed Shyamlal to supply the copies of the "wrong" question paper to 9F students, and Wadia realises that 9F students did not cheat. At the ceremony, Wadia announces that he wrongfully tried to fail the students and applauds Naina's teaching, requesting her to pin the prefect badges to her students who ranked first. The film ends with Naina's last day at the school after serving for 25 years, retiring as theschool principal, as her former 9F students, who are all now successful, reunite with her.
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In 2013,Siddharth P. Malhotra acquired the rights toBrad Cohen's 2005 autobiographyFront of the Class and started writing the screenplay along with Ambar Hadap and Ganesh Pandit, with Ankur Chaudhry and Raaj Mehta joining them later.[4][5] The film was titledHichki, which Malhotra felt was a suitable word for describing prejudice and social stigma against Tourette disorder.[6] His second directorial venture afterWe Are Family (2010), Malhotra had several failed attempts to find a production house over four years. According to him, the production houses believed that the film lacked commercial viability, telling him: "Who would watch the story of a teacher suffering from Tourette syndrome?" His wife, Sapna, suggestedYash Raj Films to him, although he was initially reluctant as he had faced many rejections. He met the company's ownerAditya Chopra to narrate the screenplay, and the latter liked it. Chopra, however, was busy with his projectBefikre (2016) and askedManeesh Sharma, who would co-produceHichki with him, to listen to the rest.[5]
While Malhotra had conceived of the film as a male-led film when writing the screenplay, Sharma suggested casting an actress as the lead.[5] Rani Mukerji was chosen, marking her first acting role sinceMardaani in 2014. She revealed that she accepted the film because she found the role to be more challenging than those in her previous films.[7] Furthermore, Mukerji has said that it was Chopra who conceived her to portray the part as he saw Mukerji becoming obsessed with her family life and that her fans were desperately waiting for her comeback.[8] She waited until her daughter Adira was four months old before accepting the role.[9] In preparation, she interacted with Cohen (who was happy knowing the film would address Tourette syndrome and the character is based on him) on the social media platformSkype, asking him for training to make her character's motor and vocaltics appear spontaneous and not rehearsed.[8][10] Shanoo Sharma subsequently completed the casting.[4]
Hichki was produced on a budget of₹200 million (equivalent to₹270 million or US$3.2 million in 2023).[2]Principal photography started inMumbai on 4 April 2017.Avinash Arun worked as the cinematographer,[11][12] withVaibhavi Merchant doing the choreography and Meenal Agarwal finishing the production design. Shilpa Makhija and Varsha Chandanani designed the costumes.[4] Because this was her first on-screen project since her daughter's birth, Mukerji confessed that she was worried about leaving her daughter for the first time. Mukerji added, "... she had not spent even one day without me. Also, I was wondering whether I would be able to act or not as I was facing the camera after two years. I wondered if I still have it in me."[13] The shooting finished on 5 June 2017, and the film was then edited by Shweta Venkat Matthew atMehboob Studio.[14] Hitesh Sonik composed the background score, and Pritam Das served as the sound designer along with Ganesh Gangadharan.[4]
The soundtrack toHichki was composed byJasleen Royal and the lyrics were written by Raj Shekhar, Jaideep Sahni, Neeraj Rajawat, Aditya Sharma, and David Klyton.[15][16] Abhishek Kurme,Arijit Singh,Benny Dayal, David Klyton,Harshdeep Kaur,Jasleen Royal, Naina Kundu, Nigel Rajaratnam, Rhiya Jauhari,Shilpa Rao, Siddesh Jammi, and Yogesh Kurme performed the vocals. The album was released by Yash Raj Films' subsidiary YRF Music on 19 February 2018.[15]
Hichki was one of the most anticipated Bollywood films of 2018 as the film marked the acting comeback of Mukerji after four years.[17] She promoted it on television in five languages:Bengali,Bhojpuri,Hindi,Marathi, andPunjabi. According to her, the film has inspired her by its moral message and relevancy, saying that she wanted more people in the country to hear it as well.[18] The trailer was released on 19 December 2017.[17] The first poster for the film was released by the critic and trade analystTaran Adarsh on hisTwitter account on 26 December, showing a release date of 23 February 2018; Ritika Handoo fromZee News thought that Mukerji's pose on it was impressive.[19] However, another poster came out on 1 February 2018 and the release date was postponed to 23 March.[20] Sharma said that it was delayed because Indian student exams were starting around the first date.[21]
The promotion ofHichki started on 14 January 2018, during the celebration ofMakar Sankranti.[22][23] Mukerji went toAhmedabad to interact with school students and her fans, and later to eight other cities.[22] She also did promotion on several television shows, includingBigg Boss 11,[24]Dadagiri Unlimited,[25] andDance India Dance.[26] Mukerji continued it by interacting with the spiritual teacherRavi Shankar at the inaugural session of theInternational Women's Conference.[27] She spoke of her experience, "It will be amazing to be part of this session and hear him speak.Hichki is all about harnessing your positivity and inner peace to bring out the best in you and I'm going to speak about this in his presence. I look forward to this interactive session."[28] In October, Mukerji visited five cities in China (Beijing,Chengdu,Guangzhou,Shanghai, andShenzhen) to promote the film there.[29]
Hichki premiered on 23 March 2018 with the tagline, "What is life without a few hiccups".[30] It was released onDVD in theNTSC widescreen format on 8 May 2018.[31] The film was screened at theShanghai International Film Festival on 15 June,[32] theIndian Film Festival of Melbourne on 11 August,[33] theInternational Film Festival of India in November,[34] and theGiffoni Film Festival in July 2019.[35] Malhotra told thePress Trust of India that the festival screenings were an honour for him and an opportunity to boost his career.[36] The film was released in theatres in China on 12 October with the titleTeacher with Hiccup.[37] It was released in Taiwan asMy Teacher with Hiccups on 2 November.[38]Hichki is available for streaming onAmazon Prime Video andApple TV+.[39]
The film was met with generally average reviews from critics; most of the praise focused on Mukerji, while the plot faced the greatest criticism.[40][41] It received a rating of 54% on thereview aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10.[39] The entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama said that Mukerji had delivered an effervescent performance and madeHichki a good film despite a predictable story, believing she would make the audience empathise with her character and that the actress portrayed it zestfully.[42] In her two-and-a-half-star review,Sukanya Verma ofRediff.com panned the melodramatic screenplay but appreciated Mukerji and described the film as an "out-and-out" show for her.[43]Mayank Shekhar, writing forMid-Day, was critical of the film, calling it thedesi version of the Americancoming-of-age dramaDead Poets Society (1989).[44]Filmfare's critic Devesh Sharma thought Mukerji looked as if she had not taken a sabbatical from full-time acting, lauding her dramatic confrontational scenes with Neeraj Kabi, andBhawana Somaaya expressed appreciation of her for playing againsttype.[45][46]
Reviewing forThe Times of India, Rachit Gupta said that she hoped the film focused not only on Naina's classroom struggle but also on her personal life, especially her conflict with her father. She, however, commended the performances of Mukerji and the actors who played her students, particularly that from Harsh Mayar.[47]Rajeev Masand ofNews18 foundHichki to be inconsistent and unoriginal; however, he praised the film's moral message.[48] In the words ofNDTV'sSaibal Chatterjee, "Rani Mukerji's energetic, engaging performance apart,Hichki is a huff-and-puff show marked by too much mush and fuss. But it has just enough to keep tearjerker junkies interested."[49] From theHindustan Times, Rohit Vats rated the film two-and-a-half stars, complimenting Mukerji's straightforward, confident performance and those of Kabi and the student actors. However, Vats was disappointed that the film only revolves on the relationship between a teacher and students.[50]
Richard James Havis ofSouth China Morning Post found Mukerji's spirited performance enhancing an otherwise predictable story.[51] Udita Jhunjhunwala of Scroll.in appreciated Malhotra for putting the narrative focus on Naina only without disruptivesubplots,[52] and Samrudhi Ghosh ofIndia Today observed that Malhotra "had a tough task at hand—to stay away from emotional manipulation, even in the dramatic moments. He succeeds, for the most part; although some portions of the film, such as the climax, feel a little contrived."[53] Another review in News18, written by Kriti Tulsiani, commented that the film is a remake ofPeter Werner's 2008 filmFront of the Class, which was based on the same book asHichki, and criticised it for the inability to provide an original story and undramatic ending.[54] In theDeccan Chronicle, Rohit Bhatnagar, who gave the film three out of five stars, wrote that Mukerji drives the film with her effortless performance; although the latter aspect make the film mediocre, he added thatHichki is as good as Malhotra'sWe Are Family.[55] From theDaily News and Analysis, Chaya Unnikrishnan termedHichki aslice-of-life film with inspiring themes and was impressed by Mukerji's acting.[56]
Namrata Joshi praised her tics used in the right measure and time, but noted the actors cast as her parents (Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar) did not get enough scope.[57]Raja Sen and Aditya Shrikrishna fromThe New Indian Express said Mukerji was successful at making her tics look natural,[58][59] andAnna M. M. Vetticad described the actress as one of the "biggest strengths" ofHichki.[60] Billing it as a comeback vehicle for Mukerji,The Indian Express' Shalini Langer acclaimed Malhotra for not adding romantic songs or sequences.[61] The Tamil magazineAnanda Vikatan named it as the best example of what teachers should teach to their students,[62] withAnupama Chopra summarising, "[It] is a genuinely earnest film made with heart. But it doesn't take enough risks and consequently doesn't touch a raw nerve in the way thatTaare Zameen Par did. But it's always nice to see a talented actress with all guns blazing."[63] Swetha Ramakrishnan ofFirstpost claimedHichki would be not complete if Kabi did not feature in it.[64]
The film was a commercial success in India and abroad, with the trade analyst Girish Johar tellingThe Indian Express that its business largely relied on the audience'sword-of-mouth. However, he added that the issue of Tourette syndrome that is addressed in it may limit the audience.[65] Released in more than 900 theatres, the film had a below average opening in India, grossing₹33 million (US$390,000).[41][66] After earning₹200 million (US$2.4 million) in only five days, however, it was declared a commercial success.[67]Hichki collected₹591.3 million (US$7.0 million) over its theatrical run in India.[68]
| Award/Organization | Category | Winner(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filmfare Awards | Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [69] |
| Giffoni Film Festival | Best Film | Aditya Chopra, Maneesh Sharma | Won | [70] |
| Indian Film Festival of Melbourne | Best Film | Aditya Chopra, Maneesh Sharma | Nominated | [70] [71] |
| Best Director | Siddharth P. Malhotra | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Won | ||
| Excellence in Cinema | Rani Mukerji | Won | ||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [72] |
| Screen Awards | Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [73] |
| Zee Cine Awards | Best Actor – Female (Critics) | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [74] |
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