Cricket has ruled the roost in India for as long as anyone in the present generation can remember. It has fired the imaginations, aroused passion, intensified aggression, even fuelled the desire in millions of Indians to live their life in the hope of seeing their idols give them few hours of undiluted joy and a relief from their dreary life. For them, every victory on Cricket field has meant 'Celebration of Life' itself , while every defeat has pushed them into an ocean of tears, disappointment and depression…This is how We are: Emotional and Sentimental !! But these feelings, while anyone can easily associate with Cricket, become conspicuous by their absence when it comes to our national game, a game that was born in India - Hockey.

However, there was a time when it was not so. Hockey aroused the same kind of craze and excitement that cricket does today. It enjoyed the same kind of popularity and it's stars commanded a fan following that equalled to, even exceeded, any cricketer those days. So Dhyanchand, Leslie Claudius or Balbir Singh had the same, if not more fan following than that of Lala Amarnath, M.L Jaisimha or Abbas Ali Beig in that era. However, with the advent of a young Sunil Gavaskar, the rise of Kapil Dev and subsequently India's World Cup win, things changed forever. Hockey kept loosing both it's games and it's star value, while cricket's graph kept rising like a Tsunami, drowning every other sport in the country, including hockey. We do not have even one hockey player today who could match the charisma, style or talent of a player like Irfan Pathan......A hockey playing Sachin tendulkar seems like a dream for a la la land!

This makes us ponder, will Hockey ever regain it's lost glory?

Will a film, based on this very intense and classical game change anything? Will Chak De India be able to bring back the Golden Era of Hockey… The onus would probably rest on not a sports man, but an actor, Shah Rukh Khan, one of our Biggest Icons, who stars in the movie, to make this far fetched dream come true..

Will the combination of Shahrukh Khan, a team of dedicated hockey players and a story of this beautiful game be able to make people go back to the stadium to watch Cricket our National game Hockey ? Will India ever again see the rise of another star who would match up the with the magic of Dhayanchad and his hockey stick ?..And will this gifted sport, which for decades, has been getting the treatment of an adopted child be embraced by the people of our Sports-loving Country?

Lets Ask stars of Our Television and members of the Cricket Club Boxy Boyz,as what is their opinion on this.

The first Person who is on the receiving end of our bouncers is a star player of the Club,who is very serious about the game and wants to play it Internationally against the Top Teams and more than willing to replace any injured Indian Cricket Team player currently touring England. Yes its none other than the very sober, gentle and Dashing Anand Suryawanshi. Lets see how he dribbles away our questions. Over to you Andy:

What do you prefer watching Cricket or Hockey?

Obviously, I am more of a cricket fan..But, whenever there are any chances of watching hockey, I have watched it.. But not a regular hockey watcher though..

Name your favourite Hockey Player!

Dhanraj Pillai, I would not say favourite.. But he is one of the few I have watched playing well.

What are your thoughts on Cricket completely overtaking Hockey in our country?

Bascially Hockey was a Big Craze years back.. That was the time when we won the Olympic Gold and everything. But now Cricket has overtaken hockey by a huge margin.. All play cricket today, cricket is a passion and craze.. It is played everywhere and one can say that it is a common man’s game.. The craze for cricket is probably because of the Success of the Cricket team, which started with winning the 1983 World Cup. Then the Craze and fan following of players like Sachin Tendulkar and many others have just lifted the spirit of the game. The thing about Hockey is that it could not produce bigger stars. While full credit should go to the Cricket Organisers, the same thing cannot be said about Hockey..

Do u think we will ever get back the Golden Era as regards the game of Hockey? Will this film motivate people towards the game?

I guess there are chances. It is not impossible for hockey to come back in a big way. But it will take lots of hard work, time and planning at all levels.. The game has to be promoted well and someone who has the knowledge and foresight should take the initiative. I think this movie Chak De India with the popularity of Shahrukh can get back the passion for hockey in the mind of masses. Movies can make anything happen..

Is Chak de India..our last hope when hockey game is considered?

No, this is just the beginning. The first step is to get Hockey back and I remember a step being taken in this direction, with the start of Indian Hockey League sometime last year… This has been introduced to create awareness about hockey, it is similar to the 20-20 matches in cricket. Now the next step will be Chak De ..

Are you looking forward seeing this film? If yes, what is the reason?

I am planning to watch this film on it first day first show. (Laughs) First of all, this is a film related to sports.. So I love watching it. Infact, I like to watch such films, the latest I have watched is the film Goal. I am hard core fan of films based on sports.. Another thing is that ShahRukh is in it. This film overall looks to be motivating and inspiring..

Lastly, what are ‘Boxy Boys’ upto now?

Boxy Boys are now into football.. It is the rainy season and we love playing football in this weather. We have a friendly match this Saturday against JW Marriot. So we are looking forward to that.. As of now, we are chilling out and relaxing. The cricket season should start by September.

Seems like Chak de has that spark that can revive our hope and faith in the game. Anand wants to watch this movie on the First day, in its First Show itself, though its evident that his favorite game is Cricket and Hockey needs to work really hard before it could get the title of people's game.To know more about the moive,hockey and Boxy boyz stayed tuned to Telly Buzz, your star could be next, defending our line of Attack !

Chak De Phatte!!

Reporter : Srividya Rajesh

Author : nishtha, sree, Minnie

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Comments (20)

Sangita @sangitadas

+ 3

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Great to know about this.

Best of luck Tisca.

Will deffo look forward to the film.

17 years ago

Funk'n Desi @Funk'n Desi

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thankz...great article
and im waiting for this movie aswell..not only coz of srk, the gerat story line and everything but also because i went to watch the shooting =] it was shot in australia
it was a great experience
make us proud srk

17 years ago

bRoWn_BeAuTy @bRoWn_BeAuTy

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gr88 article
SRK's chak de phatey lol

17 years ago

Anamika @ana13

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m reeely excited 2 watch this movie!!!!!!!not onli coz of srk but coz of tha whoole story line....m pretty sure it'll rock!!!

17 years ago

Puneet @sweet_puneet

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tfs. =) wow! im so exicted to watch this movie not only bcuz SRK stars in its cuz i prefer hockey over ciricket any time.

17 years ago

Tara_K @Tara_K

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hey great article and i know this film will chak de phatte

17 years ago

Pari @pari0706

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hmm that's really a very good article twiny.. u r too good as i always say my guruji

on serious note i really hope that our national game gets some recognition now... infact i was really shocked when i heard for first time that hockey was India's national game and not cricket ... as i really thought it was cricket being a cricket fan from childhood

17 years ago