It’s official. I am in love with Shahrukh khan. I did not think this day would come, but it has. ‘Chak De India’ has finally proved to me, what a great caliber of an actor shahrukh really is and now I am left marveling at his every move.
At first glance, the movie seemed to be about a loser team given a new lease of life by their charismatic coach. The idea seemed agonizingly familiar and most of us had jumped to the conclusion of it being a definite copy.
Thankfully, the movie was much more than that and had a delightfully refreshing take on the already treaded path of the coach and the team.
The film has been picturized on the Indian women’s hockey team. But the very first thing that hits us viewers, winnig and loosing is the tongue-in-cheek spoof on the Indian Diaspora and its crazy obsession with winning and losing.
The movie begins with kabir khan (shahrukh), a captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, missing a crucial penalty corner. And that miss results in his downfall. The match happened to be against the Pakistani team; the team which has the ability to draw out the competitive streak in any patriotic Indian, irrespective of what the sport may be. And thus, Kabir Khan is accused of treachery and match fixing and then ensues a scene so familiar that I almost chuckled.
Effigies were burned and ruthless comments were made against the poor captain. The public finally “won” and he had to disappear from the sports scene.
But Kabir had to return for the movie to progress. And he did, after seven years, armed with the burning determination of gaining his lost glory. How did he go about it? By being the coach of the Indian women’s hockey team of course.
The women’s hockey team, as expected, was shown in a dilapidated state. The Indian sports association foresaw not even a glimmer of hope and talent in the team. The image of the Indian women not being able to do much by “running around in knickers” seemed to be the essence of their every conversation. They even tried to dissuade Kabir from taking on the challenge of making winners out of “losers” and in the process and in the process further degrade himself in the eyes of the nation. But Kabir refuses to relent from his decision. Did he take the right decision? Go watch the movie and you’ll know!
For me, the highlight of the movie is when coach gives a pep-talk to his team, who were on the verge of making history. He tells his hopeful aspirants of the world cup that they only have seventy minutes to do their very best. Winning and losing was immaterial. It was actually the seventy minutes, which the players would spend on the ground, which would be remembered by them for the rest of their lives. And this seventy minutes not even god would be able to take away from them.
This scene touched the very chords of my heart. Because, according to me, this is the reality of life. Winning may be all good. But in the end what matters the most is that we tried hard enough.
Chak De India is one movie all sports lovers and criticizers must watch. It’s a cinematographic delight and a satisfying food for thought.
