Hichki (2018)

Hichki is the kind of crowd-pleaser that earns its uplift the hard way: by letting you feel the sting of rejection, the awkwardness of first impressions, and then the slow, stubborn work of turning a “lost cause” into a real community. Rani Mukerji gives a beautifully open, lived-in performance as a teacher with Tourette syndrome, never asking for pity and never letting the film reduce her to an issue instead of a person. The tone is warm and funny without being cute, and when it reaches for inspiration it does so with empathy for both the students and the system that’s failed them. If you’re allergic to earnest, teacher-saves-the-class stories, it may feel familiar—but if you want a big-hearted drama-comedy that leaves you genuinely lighter, this one delivers.

Hichki is clearly aiming for an inspirational, crowd-pleasing underdog story about a teacher with Tourette syndrome pushing back against a snobbish school system and giving “problem kids” a real shot. The issue is that it often plays like a familiar uplift checklist—big speeches, obvious villains, neat turnarounds—and the plot can feel engineered to deliver emotional beats rather than earn them naturally. If you’re allergic to melodrama or you want a more nuanced, less formula-driven take on disability and education, this may test your patience. Still, Rani Mukerji’s performance brings warmth and conviction, and if you enjoy straightforward, feel-good Bollywood-style motivation, it will likely land exactly as intended.