MUMBAI: There was a time when Hindi cinema used to churn out college-based films, centred around romances, bromances, brawls, student elections, campus politics, hostel shenanigans, and more with more propensity than needed. Among these, quite a few memorable movies were also delivered, including Yuva, Shiva, 3 Idiots, Waqt Humara Hai, Gulaal, and Mere Apne. Suddenly though these films were brought to a sudden halt post 2010, with the advent of new-age filmmaking serving as a double-edged sword, unleashing new ideas but jettisoning the old ones.

With this in mind, Dange comes along as a breath of fresh air despite being old wine in a new bottle, bringing back fond memories of both wonderful college films and your own college life. It takes a straightforward plot, but Bejoy Nambiar's direction runs riot with it, shrewdly segregating everything into non-linear chapters, keeping us hooked and invested in the characters till the very end. The campus politics have been deftly balanced with college romances and bare-knuckle brawls, with nothing going overboard, all playing their part to the T.

It helps immensely though when you're given such gifted actors, including Harshvardhan Rane, Ehan Bhat, Nikita Dutta, and TJ Bhanu, along with a technical team that's completely in sync with the captain of the ship, especially the cinematographer, set designer, and VFX department.

Bonus points for how Nambiar has also weaved in multiple sub-plots about class divide, toxic masculinity, disdainful professors, and revenge dynamics within the main narrative. That being said, some of the other sub-plots feel a tad excess at times and needlessly end up confounding a narrative that was flowing smoothly sans their intrusion. The editing could've also done with a tighter hand, especially in the first half.

Keeping these higgles and haggles aside, Dange is still more than worth a trip to your nearest cinema hall for how it rekindles the brawls, bromance, and romance or college life with aplomb. Those who've been an active part of a college culture, where frequent fisticuffs for the most banal reasons were a part of daily life, and college elections and cultural fests were the crowning glory of an academic year, should definitely not miss this.

3.5/5