Hip Hip Hurray (1984) User Reviews

The best football movie made in India.

[Jackie_Viera · 9/10 · 23 December 2006]

Having seen this film a few years ago, its very unusual for a country that is well known as being a fanatical cricket and hockey-loving country, to come up with a film based on football. And what a surprise it is. Considering that the film was made roughly around the time India won the cricket world cup, it surprises me that anyone would contemplate making a football movie in a cricket/ Hockey-mad country during that time. The director of the movie, Gulzar, has done just that.

Quite simply, this is the best football film India has produced. It is interesting story about an IT graduate working as a sports/ football coach in an all boys school. He coaches the school football team to play against another rival school football team. I wont reveal too much about the plot but please, if you find this movie do check it out, its done very brilliantly. The football matches are filmed quite well (amazingly, this is filmed without stealing highlights from Match of The Day or from some other sports shows, lol). The simulated matches are filmed very well, with a real Roy of The Rovers-style climax. The film has a slight coming-of-age feel to it. While the football is the main focus of the film, it also highlights different facets of human emotions and teenage angst.

Although the casting is well selected, the performance of the film must go to the late, great Shafi Inamdar as the rival coach/ referee. His performance as a hard-nosed, win-at-all-costs football coach, is very reminiscent of a good Premier league manager.

Put simply, its a real winner. Rent it, Buy it and enjoy it. You will not go wrong with it.

Bollywood's First Sports Movie

[IPyaarCinema · 7/10 · 26 April 2022]

Bollywood's first sports film. It explores the life and struggles of Sandeep Chaudhary an electronics graduate striving for a temporary job as a school sports master.

The predecessor to Chak De India by Prakash Jha

[jmathur_swayamprabha · 10/10 · 23 April 2012]

I liked the movie - Chak De India (2007) very much which was made by Yash Raj Films and directed by Shimit Ameen while casting Shah Rukh Khan and many girls in principal roles. I watched it in theatre (PVR Priya at Vasant Vihar, Delhi) on 24th August 2007 and within moments of the start of the movie, I found myself lost in the narrative. I got inspired as well as thrilled as the movie proceeded. However despite liking the movie very much, I got a sense of deja vu at certain places in the movie. Certain things, characters and relationships sounded familiar to me. Why ? I asked my brain. And within no time, my brain responded with the answer. I was missing a very old movie, Hip Hip Hurray (1984) whose story and treatment consist of things in common with Chak De India. It was the debut movie of the now well-known film-director, Prakash Jha.

Hip Hip Hurray is a joyful expression which expresses the joy of victory. Just like Chak De India, the story of Hip Hip Hurray also revolves around a coach who instills self-confidence in the youngsters he coaches and teaches them how to develop the attitude of a winner. And his sincere efforts and hard work with them show their worth in the end. This role has been played by Raj Kiran, one of the most underrated actors of Hindi cinema. He is shown as a youth who accepts the temporary assignment of a sports teacher in a college. The game of football is played by the students but they are so demoralized that they are never able to win against the rival college in a game. The hero has to face the opposition of the college bully (a role superbly played by Nikhil Bhagat) and also the handle the college dynamics in which his ally is a like-minded lady-teacher, Deepti Naval. Through him, the demoralized boys with a defeated mindset, learn to win first in their minds and then on the field and finally defeat the experienced and stronger rival team in the climax with the opposing college bully playing a pivotal role in the victory.

Though Chak De India has an identity of its own, there are several sequences and characters in that that bear a clear resemblance to those in Hip Hip Hurray. Unlike Chak De India, Hip Hip Hurray was a low-budget movie but very very impressive. Start to finish, it's a treat to watch and an inspiration to feel within. Prakash Jha showed his class in his debut directorial venture itself. The simple milieu of the college campus, the simple middle class characters and the mindset of the teenager students, everything is utterly realistic and heart-winning. It's the honesty of storytelling in Hip Hip Hurray which makes it a winner. It was in the race for winning the national award for the best movie as well as the Indian entry for the Oscars. Though none of that happened for it, yet it got a lot of critical acclaim. Besides, the movie is thoroughly interesting (like all the Prakash Jha movies).

Like Chak De India, in Hip Hip Hurray too, there is no romance and the complete focus is on the on-field and off-field activities of the coach (teacher) and the trainees (students). However in the ending scene when the parting time has come for the teacher (Raj Kiran), he proposes to the like-minded lady-teacher (Deepti Naval) who has always stood by him, saying - 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (will you marry me) ?' And she replies - 'Sochoongi (I'll think about it)'. Well, it can be considered as the most underrated romantic talk of Hindi cinema (in my opinion).

Performances are praiseworthy. Raj Kiran was a great actor who never got his due from Bollywood. He was a natural performer and he has done complete justice to the role of the sports teacher. Deepti Naval is one of the greatest actresses of Indian cinema who could never act bad. Among others, Shafi Inamdaar as the coach of the rival team is good in his negative role and the complete supporting cast is also perfect on the screen. However, as said earlier, the show-stealer is Nikhil Bhagat who has played the role of the college bully, Raghu with a high degree of excellence. He remains in mind of the spectator long after the movie is over.

Technically, the movie is perfect. Music by Vanraj Bhatia alongwith the lyrics penned by none other than Gulzaar is also admirable. Songs like Har Subah Har Mod Par, Jab Kabhi Mud Ke Dekhta Hoon, Maidaan Hai Saari Zindagi and the title track may not have been chartbusters but they are pretty impressive and deserve to be listened to with attention.

Summing up, Hip Hip Hurray is an excellent movie which seems to have been long forgotten by all and sundry. I had watched it on Doordarshan long back and I feel, not only me but all the sports-lovers of India should watch this classic sports movie. Those who have seen and liked Chak De India should also watch it and check for similarities between the two.

nice movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon and recall the memories of your college days.

[v_sands · 10/10 · 16 September 2006]

The movie takes us to the good old college days. Raj Kiran (Sandeep), accepts the post of a sports teacher in a boys college, while he is trying to complete his higher studies. The movie is about his encounter with the college bully Raghu, who is a spoiled brat but a talented one. Raj Kiran, sees the talent and through an inter-college football championship, he is able to prove his mettle. Nice movie to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon. It is a good treat to people who have left their college days long behind and have a nostalgic feeling for those moments. I liked the movie because of the simplicity of the presentation and the story. Dipti Naval looks very beautiful as ever. She was one of the actresses of the off-beat cinema, who had looks of a next door girl, and with immense acting talents.

It was shot in my "School"

[Adarsh_Kumar_Singh · 10/10 · 9 January 2015]

Nothing can be not good about this movie because it was shot in "My SCHOOL " . My good old school BWBS - The - Bishop Westcott Boys' School situated in Namkom, Ranchi. AAMMMAAAZING MEMORIES >>>.

I saw the airing of this movie seriously like 20 years since it was made, somewhere in the mid 2000s.

It was 1984. Prakash Jha, the director of this film conceived a movie based on controversial school sports agenda. "football", call it soccer, whatever you like !! In India. OK ....

The situation between the cute lady teacher (Deepti Nawal) and the rat pack "Nikhil and bunch" before Mr. Anand takes over is definitely the best cut I have ever seen in Indian Film Industry. Nikhil being the hot shot, not able to concentrate on the game, ..... Gets the goodies from his coach Anand and things go well.

The culmination of this film can be said to be at par with "MERE APNE".

You and rest were good to me. Thank you.