When I saw the promos of Chak De India first on TV, I wasn’t impressed. Another SRK flick from Yash Raj films no less. Then my cousin, an unabashed SRK fan, saw it and couldn’t stop raving over it. But then, I wouldn’t have expected any less of her. And then, on MS- Movie Zombie and Cool Breeze reviewed it and both, while having different takes on the movie, still pronounced it very, very watchable. And then, some more of my friends who were non SRK fans voted a 100% in favour of it.
Add to this the fact that my son, post 15th August, went about singing Vande Maavaram… and Saare Gavaan Se Acha.. (I wonder if he meant gawaar) and I was all set to give him one more song on India
Throughout the second half, he was gaily singing Chak De.. Chak De India! Much to the discomfiture of his parents who thanked God for small mercies- that they were sitting in the first row (the only available tickets) and so he couldn’t yell it into the ears of people sitting in front.
The movie starts off on a sour note. The captain of the defeated team shakes hands sportingly with the captain of the winning team, but this is twisted by some media reporters to have much more sinister connotations. That the game in question was the World Cup, and the respective teams were India and Pakistan just added fuel to the subsequent fire, and a brilliant hockey player's life is ruined.
But then, Kabir Khan rises phoenix like from the ashes to regain all his former glory. Maybe more glory, for this time, he attempts and achieves the almost impossible. A gaggle of girls who know about hockey, but nothing about playing a winning game. And the World Cup Womens’ Hockey Championship. How he coaches the former to win the latter forms the crux of the movie.
The movie is all about fighting against prejudices. Against women, against hockey, against muslims, against failure… It is all about fighting for the underdog. Who given a fighting chance is well able to win over topdog…Its about overcoming your differences and working as a team, towards a common goal…
And the girls who team up are as disparate a bunch as could ever be thought up. Different states, different cultures, different languages….Initially there are a lot of skirmishes as tempers run hot, and egos clash, and it seems unlikely that they can go on sharing the same dormitory, leave alone jell together as a winning team. Some performances are truly memorable..
Komal- Pint-sized stature, but very, very big of heart. I especially love that scene towards the end, where she battles with her ego and her personal dislike, and passes the ball to her rival Preethi. So that she does not let down India and her coach. So that Preethi scores- for herself and for India. Truly selfless.
Balbir- Like the proverbial fire cracker, she just needs a spark to explode. She provides for some very entertaining fireworks, as she learns to put a leash on her temper…
Preethi- Beautiful. Aloof. A star player in her team. All set to marry a celebrated cricket star. But she battles her own demons inside. Can she really spend a lifetime with someone who can’t even realize, let alone appreciate her commitment to her game, never mind that it is not cricket? Her game gives her the answer.
Bindiya- The brooding, embittered senior-most player. Quite why she is so cynical and disillusioned in life is a question that is unanswered. But that she has seen a lot of the seamier side of life is made clear. A very complex character, played to perfection.
Vidya Sharma- The resilient, and talented captain. All set in her personal life, she throws it all to the winds- as she plays for her last chance at glory. Was it worth the risk? Oh, most definitely, resoundingly YES.
The ‘rakshasis from Lanka’ are all set to win, “HO”! They train and play, and go through their trials and tribulations. They win small battles over issues of rage, jealousy, attitude, discrimination, personal troubles… and in the process, they win our hearts over.
They do, these simple girls from all over India. In the party scene where each of them is draped in a sari with the tricolour border, they look so heartbreakingly, wonderfully Indian. Their Indianness tugs at your heartstrings, and makes you long for them to win, for India to win, but you feel pretty proud of them for having come this long at least.
SRK gives a marvellously restrained performance as the mature, focused coach who is determined to make his girls win. Who makes them slog it out for their moment of glory. Relentlessly, punishingly. Comes a stage when the girls get fed up and rebel against their harsh mentor, and all is almost lost, but then a chance remark leads to the girls ganging up, and realizing their potential as a team. And they get back together to training with SRK.
The movie has its soaring highs even in the absence of songs, heroines, romance (except the one that goes sour finally, gladly). And it truly makes you feel good for India, for the girls, for the coach, for hockey…
For, nothing is impossible. Grooms will wait for brides who run off to play hockey. Celebrity cricketeers will be ditched if they can think no further than cricket and themselves. Pipsqueaks can walk as tall as stunning beauties and have their praises sung by adoring fathers for being unmaidenly. Besmirched names will shine fairer than ever.
And I sure hope a neglected national game gets back its glory. Chak De India.
And I just have to say this. I have never watched a hockey match in my life. But I have read the Enid Blyton school series- St.Clare's and Malory Towers both. And I now understand so well how lacrosse was so consuming a passion for the girls, and the importance of that word SHOOT!
SHOOT Darrel, SHOOT!
Pass, Preethi, Pass!
And those fingers go up to your mouth, and you almost bite those knuckles....
