To begin with , Chak de India is a complete entertainer...No 2 ways about it....It is very tough to make an engrossing film in the current trend without skin show and silly love duets..Credits go shimit amin , the director and yash raj films . Nice to see YRF deviate from their mushy romatic cliched films and make a sports entertainer having women’s hockey as the theme, a sport that exists in oblivion that has no spotlight on it.
The story begins with Kabir Khan ,captain of the Indian team miss a penalty stroke in a crucial match against Pakistan , making them the world champions. A harmless handshake to one of the pakistani players is twisted by the media and Kabir is vilified and accused of match fixing. Disgraced , he leaves his ancestral home with his mother and fades into oblivion with nobody having any idea of his whereabouts.
Seven years later , he resurfaces to redeem himself and is appointed as the coach as the women’s hockey team. But the job is very tough. The girls are a unruly bunch from various states and various backgrounds . They have ego clashes and hardly are intent on playing as a team. So now not only does he have to train them in the game , but he also has to teach them team spirit. He also has to convince the hockey board to send his team to the world championship who are interested in sending a men’s team. As one of the committee members puts it".Atleast the Men’s team might bring a bronze medal" .... Sorry state of affairs for our national game !
Every actor has played their part to perfection. King Khan perfomance is a treat to watch especially after his KANK’s acting. He has curbed his hamming and underplayed his role with a quiet intensity. The girls are also excellent . The first half focuses on the girls and this gives rise to some comic moments from their language barriers. The scene before the interval is a well executed one establishing the unity in the girls in the face of any problem. The second half turns serious with the focus shifting to the game , the success and failures and the world cup. The world cup games againt various countries is picturised in an interesting manner with each match presenting a difficulty and how does the team solve it. One Fav scene is where the coach of the england is confused and asks " Which one of them is Didi ". Watch out for Shah Rukh’s expression after the indian team wins the final.
Technically, the film is excellent . The editing is crisp with no dull moments. The songs jell into the background without hindering the pace of the movie.
The best thing I liked in this movie is that it emphasised the importance of the team spirit which is needed for any team to win regardless of sport. I wish that our cricket team would watch it and learn some lessons !! So , Go watch it with your family and have fun.
