Chhalaang Trailer Talk: Rajkummar Rao In Small-Town Sports Drama

Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach PT. That's the voiceover that introduces Montu (Rajkummar Rao), a teacher at a government school in North India. Montu is content to perform his job half-heartedly, sleeping in late and palming off his classes on other teachers. When the trailer shows him peering at the new computer teacher, Neelu (Nushrratt Bharuccha), from behind a classroom door, the film seems to be headed in the direction of a small-town romance. After Montu's ill-advised attempts to impress her, including a scene in which he tries to establish his authority by punishing a misbehaving student in her class, the two quickly become friends.

That changes with the arrival of Mr. Singh, the school's new PT teacher, who Montu is now expected to assist. Singh turns out to be a much better teacher than Montu was, training the students in cricket and kabaddi more efficiently. The rivalry between the squabbling sports teachers turns ugly, with the two of them even coming to blows. Montu quits, saying he values his self-respect more than his job, but puts forward a proposition – a team trained by him vs a team trained by Singh. Winner gets to keep his job.

Written by Luv Ranjan, Aseem Arrora and Zeishan Quadri, Chhalaang is directed by Hansal Mehta. It releases on Amazon Prime Video on November 13.