Poor first half, but a powerful second half

Rating: 5/10 (20 September 2019)

I've only seen a handful of Indian films so far, but this was the first one that I can call okay instead of bad. It has a really slow start but an emotional second half. I didn't expect to like it based on the beginning. The advertising made it seem like a comedy, when it's actually a coming of age drama, and nearly all of the comedy is extremely immature potty jokes. Plus a lot of Rancho's initial challenges to the establishment (and the entirety of the director's character) seemed childish and/or unrealistic. However, once the story turned serious (about 45-60 minutes into the movie), there were several scenes that had me on the verge of tears in powerfully joyful moments.
If I were in charge of this film, the biggest change I would make is to entirely cut the present day story. In the first half, it's practically the only interesting part of the movie. But in the second half, it only serves as a distraction, never presenting anything remotely as entertaining or moving as the past storyline. My second biggest issue is the music, which is usually jarringly strong and over-exaggerated.
All in all, I'm certainly glad I watched it, though it has too much fluff and such a lengthy runtime that I probably won't ever rewatch it. Oh, and as a surprising bonus, it only has 2 of the ridiculously absurd musical sequences that Bollywood is so strangely infatuated with, and one of the songs is actually halfway related to the plot.