‘Ghich Pich’ Movie Review - Ankur Singla's Warm Hug

Ankur Singla's Ghich Pich is overflowing with empathy-rich performances. Every actor is at the top of their form. They don't draw you in; they suck you into their world like a black hole. It's too soon to say how much Singla shaped these performances, as this is only his first directorial feature. But he makes the right call by casting all these wonderful actors. In fact, Ghich Pich's primary pleasure lies in looking at the faces of Nitesh Pandey, Satyajit Sharma, Geeta Agrawal Sharma, and Nishan Cheema. And then there are the three young actors at the film's center who stun you with what should be called star-making performances: Kabir Nanda, Shhivam Kakar, and Aryan Singh Rana.

Singh Rana especially deserves extra recognition. He exudes an almost preternatural maturity mixed with a teenager's playfulness. At times, his Anurag reminded me of Rajat Barmecha's Rohan from Udaan. And the reason is not just the presence of a strict dad. Like Rohan, something about Anurag makes you want to talk to him and be his friend. You know he has great talent, and you know success for him is on the horizon—just as it was with Rohan.

Should we praise these gifted actors or Singla for unleashing a torrent of raw emotions? All the actors have open faces; they let loose their feelings uncontrollably and use them to create a bridge between their thoughts and our senses. The connection that's established is direct—so direct that when Satyajit Sharma's Naresh slaps Anurag, we cover our faces and recoil in horror. When Shhivam Kakar's Gaurav discovers that his father is homosexual, we experience firsthand his confusion, his embarrassment. And Nanda, as Gurpreet, renders palpable his annoying itch to cut his hair for his crush (Mia Magar).

Sparks fly when the three friends get together. Singla crafts convincing dialogues for them, and they elevate them with their pitch, pauses, and inflections. Notice how, while drinking sugarcane juice, Gaurav tells Gurpreet, "Cheers bolna hota hai." It's the kind of side remark one finds between friends who, when in the mood, seize even the smallest opportunity to tease each other.

If there are flaws in the film, they're typical first-time-director problems. Singla relies too much on background music to convey emotional cues, which, with actors as talented as these, registers as woefully redundant. He's also unable to make the scenes segue smoothly, so they bump into each other. It's jarring to go from a staff room where students are assembled to complain about a head boy to a salon a few minutes later, where a barber is beaten. Singla arranges his scenes like a collage; he needs to weave them together with greater tonal flow.

But Singla has such a big heart that these issues seem minor in the face of his warm hug. He exposes, say, Naresh's failures—his mediocrity—not to wound him, but to locate the source of his strictness, presenting him as a traditionally conditioned human (he thinks being harsh is his duty as a father). Singla also sometimes stretches believability for jokes, as when Gaurav plays with a ball inside the classroom, but his intentions are those of an innocent entertainer. He sees his story with a melancholic smile and wet eyes, and by the end, he manages to instill the same reaction in the audience. He is also pretty good at subverting our expectations—a fact that becomes apparent in a scene involving a car. Singla's voice, for now, is rough, but at least he has a voice. He loves his characters; he has a soft spot.

Final Score- [7.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
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Publisher at Midgard Times