Chak De India- Reviews (Pg 32)B-O(42) - Page 28

SRK's finest performance, straight from the heart.

Great performances by a bunch of unknowns, a gritty pace and a marvellous restraint make Chak De India an unbridled ode to patriotism without any hysterical chest-beating.

Critics rating:****

Can a film peddle patriotism, fight against the gender bias, rip apart class distinctions and make a valid criticism of regional chauvinism, minority bashing, all at the same time? Technically speaking, we would label such a film as sloganeering and would rubbish the filmmaker as a pamphleteer. But wo! what's this. Director Shimit Amin not only manages to make the anhonee honi (impossible possible), he does it with a delicate sensitivity and sensibly steers clear of all cliches.

Okay, the rag tag 'Bhartiya naari' team does go the Lagaan way and notch the inconceivable victory, but it does it with many a tumble and a fall, making the film a winner all the way. And it does it with its rag tag (read unknown) team members who come from nowhere, only to grow into living, breathing giant slayers. Of course, the real goonda of the team (that's what he calls himself) is coach Shah Rukh Khan, whose six day stubble lends him a maturity rarely seen before. Maybe, there were shades of it in Swades , but Chakde's Kabir Khan remains one of Shah Rukh's finest performances: measured, straight from the heart and minus all mannerisms. End result? He appeals straight to the heart...

Like the rest of his team, Shah Rukh is the underdog too. Only this underdog has to fight off a double curse of a loser and a traitor. As captain of the men's hockey team, he bears the allegation of having been the only Indian who played for Pakistan in the Men's World Cup. No amount of sweat and toil can wipe out the ugly graffiti 'Gaddar' (traitor) that has been inscribed on his home and his heart. Now, several years later, he gets a chance for proving all those minority bashers wrong. His task is to coach the women's hockey team; his dream is to make it win the World Cup, an impossible feat. Because, in the first place, there is no team, just a bunch of girls who have come together with a baggage of class, region and interpersonal rivalries. The small town girls hate the uber snobs; the city-slickers think Chhattisgarh is a jungle, the seniors can't handle the juniors stealing the limelight and petty camps create a virtual gang-war which even builds into a mutiny against the disciplinarian coach. The only thing that brings them together is gender bias — something they all have faced at some point of their life — desh-bhakti and coach bhakti...

Great performances by a bunch of unknowns, a gritty pace and a marvellous restraint make Chakde India an unbridled ode to patriotism without any hysterical chest-beating. And yes, for all you SRK fans and bashers, this time the verdict gotta be unanimous: Chakde Shah Rukh! Can you better this?

Nikhat Kazmi for TimesNewsNetwork

The True Story Of The Man Who Inspired Chakde! India

By: Abid

" Why did I ever play this game," he would ask himself, avoiding public glare, rendered helpless at being vilified for a loss. How could an individual be savaged for a defeat, and not the other 10 on the same turf? Was hockey not a team game?

Well if the above makes you think that we are talking about 'Kabir Khan' ( Shah Rukh Khan) of 'Chakde! India' , think again! it is about Mir Ranjan Negi, for whome life had become a nightmare. The 7-1 defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games final had brought unprecedented humiliation for India in a sporting arena. The nation went into a mourning and Negi into hiding.

Negi was accused in some quarters of having conceded those goals. In truth, the failure was collective. His team-mates stood by him but then they hardly mattered. He quit the game. He had no choice really. He was not spared at his wedding too, unruly elements disconnecting the power supply to the venue!

He returned to the hockey field, most grudgingly, 16 years later as a goalkeeping coach. India won the 1998 Asian Games gold at Bangkok, but the joy was short-lived as Negi, along with six players and the chief coach, was sacked by an ungrateful federation.

The affable Negi now shifted to train the girls, won the Commonwealth Games gold in 2002, again contributing as a goalkeeping coach. Two years later, fate dealt a cruel blow. His 19-year-old son, Abhiranjan, died in a road accident.

Negi quit coaching too. He was lost to the world of hockey. Out of this struggle a story was born, the script woven around Negi's inspiring comeback, a stirring saga that assumed the form of a movie with Shah Rukh Khan living the role on the big screen, much to the delight of the hockey fraternity.

http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayArticle.php?id=0811070 64446

Chak De! SRK

BY A STAFF REPORTER | Saturday, August 11, 2007 11:47:44 IST

Unanimous stamp of approval for Chak De! India

Chak De! India has really done it. Most of the movie buffs who were there for the first day first show gave the movie a thumbs up and Shah Rukh Khan was the favourite all over.

One of the movie goers, Harvinder Singh said, "The movie is too good.

Anyways there was no doubt whether the movie would be good or not.

Shah Rukh Khan has done very well." Singh's companion Vikram Ghosh shared the same view, "The movie and Shah Rukh Khan were awesome."

Ranjeet Kaul said, "I hope the sports minister does something to save our National Sport hockey. The movie reminds us that hockey is our national game."

When asked another movie goer, Jyotsna Banerjee about her opinion about the movie, she gave thumps up to the movie and her friend, Sunaina Vemmu said, "Mindblowing."

"The movie will enter the Oscars on behalf of India," assured Vannada Swaminathan. "I liked Shah Rukh in the movie. He should keep doing such kind of movies to stay on the top," says Jackob D'silva. Sanjana Rahut commended the, "Yash Raj has done very well by making a movie on our National Sport hockey. This fact will surely highlight the importance of the movie."

http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthep ress&subsection=inbombay&xfile=August2007_inbombay_standard1 3780

Chack De India opens well

IndiaGlitz [Saturday, August 11, 2007>

Shahrukh Khan's Chak De India opened well in select centres in Kerala, with good opening day response. Like 'Lagaan,' this is also another film with a mix of sports and patriotism, made in Bollywood.

Inspired by the real life incident of Miranjan Negi, a one time goal keeper of India and the coach who won gold at Manchester common wealth games, the film has Shahrukh Khan as Kabir Khan, the coach of Indian women's hockey team.

This film also strengthens the notion that women in sports should be given more importance. The Indian Women's Hockey Association also believes this film will draw attention to women's hockey in India.

The movie has got a good word of mouth from the opening day itself and the star's performance in the film is told to be one of his best

Sunday mid day review

Chak De India!

Director: Shimit Amin
Cast: Shahrukh Khan
Rating: * * * *

WHILE watching Chak De India, there are moments of quiet disappointment, watchful tension or explosions of triumph. But just like Kabir Khan (Shahrukh), your eyes too are trained on the goal — the finale — where hopefully these difficult daughters of hockey will bring home the World Championship Cup. In that sense, Chak De India follows the conventional ups, downs and highlights of every strong sports movie made before.

But this is where it's different. It is a story about women's hockey. And it's a story set in India.

Every sportsperson and spectator will feel for the underdogs. For the sport that Chak De India has chosen and the stepmotherly treatment towards it, the association/selector politics, the struggle to make a career in sports or to play for your team, not yourself. But all this is more magnified as women. As these 16 girls heap up one victory after another, Chak De India becomes a movie larger than the game, team spirit, India and the youth. It becomes a statement for more girl power.

Don't get us wrong — this isn't a shrill harangue. Chak De India cloaks its themes in drama that never plummets and makes you fall in love with its characters. Director Amin keeps your eyes peeled for stadium action and you're likely to tune into hockey matches after this flick. And while filmi touches like a player hitting on her coach or Kabir's basti rejecting him look unconvincing, they are moments quickly passed by.

The credit for this largely goes to Jaideep Sahni (story, script, dialogues) for the nuances and subtlety. Chak De borrows from real life hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi's life. Kabir too misses out on a crucial goal in an India-Pak match and though never proven guilty, is labelled a 'gaddaar'. Seven years later, Kabir is primed for a comeback as coach for the national women's hockey team.

Problem is, each of them is a wild child or a star player from their state teams. Kabir patiently whittles down their rough edges, tantrums, envy and rivalries until he brings a winning team to the fore. Chak De's climax is live action, zinging stuff, mainly due to Sudeep Chatterjee's cinematography and Amitabh Shukla's editing. Even Salim-Suleiman's peppy score livens the tempo.

At almost three hours, Chak De India could have been tighter, but it's completely involving. Performances are riveting, like the pint-sized cherubic Komal (Chitrashi Rawat), firebrand Balbir (Tanya Abrol), snotty Preeti (Sagarika Ghatge) or rebellious Bindia (Shilpa Shukla). Amin has superbly handled his material. Shahrukh's role is beautifully written, but he gives it a dignified edge. Watch as his fingers shake in a fit of anger, or as he locks in his disappointment and congratulates the rival team or as his knees give way in disbelief. Chak De India is among his career-best roles. It's an inspiring, brave attempt, reaching out to the youth. And while you may have missed Shahrukh's acting for nearly nine months, he is so restrained and immersed in Chak De's role that you will be rooting for Kabir, not cheering SRK.

And finally, for every woman fighting discrimination in India, Chak De India gives you hope, that spirit to say, 'ek hockey de de phat ke'.

http://www.mid-day.com/smd/play/2007/august/162255.htm

Playing the game

By Abdulla Mahmood
Published: August 08, 2007, 23:08

Yashraj Films' latest offering hopes to reignite a passion for hockey.

Once a national game that enthralled many Indians, hockey today stands confined to the bylanes of history thanks to the cricket craze. Given popular sentiment, it is laudable that Yashraj Films, and Shah Rukh Khan in particular, chose to attempt a film on hockey – especially one that focuses on the women's team.

Chak De India is one of the most enterprising films to come out of the Yashraj stable this year, after the average Ta Ra Rum Pum and the dud Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom. The film reunites Khan with Yashraj after the super success of Veer-Zara in 2004. This has raised the expectations about the film as Khan and Yashraj have an impeccable track record with all their films being blockbusters.

Director Shimit Amin, who earlier directed the realistic cop thriller Ab Tak Chappan for Ram Gopal Varma, was a surprise choice by the Yashraj camp, considering that he is generally not associated with larger-than-life films. With Amin at the helm, Chak De India had to be different cinema.

The film portrays Khan in the unconventional role of a middle-aged coach. Why did Khan choose to do this role, which is by his standards rather unglamourous?

He lists plenty of reasons, ranging from the choice of director to the theme itself. "I have known Shimit for years and he is a very hardworking, talented and unassuming kind of a guy. We have worked together on my film Asoka and I knew I would be very comfortable working with him," Khan says.

Sports clearly gets King Khan going and he says he always dreamed of working in a film on the subject. "To choose a film on sports, which is normally a neglected genre in Indian cinema, is highly commendable.

Perhaps apart from Lagaan, Hip Hip Hurray and Iqbal, we haven't really made movies on sports. I used to think about doing one when I was younger, but didn't get a chance. So, despite the fact that I am much older now, I am glad someone like Shimit thought that I could sort of fit into a sports film," he says.

There's also the matter of promoting a game mostly forgotten by the younger generation of Indians. Khan, who points out that his father was a hockey player, loves the game and wants his children to play the sport. "I am no one to comment on Indian hockey, but I feel that the game is in a sorry state in India. It means a lot to me to be able to promote the game through the medium of cinema," he says.

Khan, of course, does not need a second invitation to work with the Yashraj banner. "Honestly speaking, this is a film from the heart. I think Yashraj, especially Adi [Aditya Chopra] had to lead the way. If they don't make films like this, no one will. So with Yashraj producing it, I couldn't have had a better chance to fulfill my heart's desire to do a film on sports," he says.

Well said, but as the movie involves a lot of physical activity and shooting with a bunch of newcomers in Australia for long stretches, it could not have been easy on the ageing superstar. The ever-modest Khan explains, "It was very easy for me because everybody was very kind. I need to give credit to the production team for the well-planned shoot.
They made sure that I could come late and leave early. Sometimes, even late night shooting was planned in a way that I could sleep well."

The weather was not as kind though."We had a few ups and downs, but the games were designed in a way that I was called only when the shots required my presence. Most of the portions we did in Australia were in sport centres, apart from some training sessions on the roads," Khan says.

Khan is full of praise for the backroom boys. "I think we had some good facilities, great technicians and the production team from Australia was wonderful. When you go out for long stints like this and it involves playing a sport, it becomes like a camp more than a shooting stint."

Not surprisingly, Khan had a great time with predominantly female co-stars. "The Australian girls were a set of very sweet ladies and after a while our girls got very friendly with them. We would play a bit of soccer. We went out a couple of times and watched Dhoom 2 and Don while we were shooting the film," he says.

Coming to the plot, Khan plays the character of Kabir Khan, a coach who takes it upon himself to produce winners out of a bunch of young but directionless girls.

Khan and Yashraj are two of the most powerful names in Bollywood and it is up to them to take Indian cinema to new heights with offbeat films. The only concern is that the success of Chak De India may unleash a series of unwanted sports films as directors and producers jump on the bandwagon.

http://www.gulfnews.com/eplus/Cinema/10145078.html

Sunday Express On Chak De India

At one point in the film, Shah Rukh backs up a lout brandishing a cricket bat against a wall and says : 'Hamari hockey mein chakke nahin hotey.'

Yay, yay. Hear it for hockey, for sports movies, and yes, SRK. Chak De, India is by far the most authentic, meticulously researched sports movie India has made. Sure, there are some populist cracks against cricket and cocky cricketers which will gladden the hearts of those who don't worship at the game's altar, and yes, there do exist such creatures in India, unbelievable thought it may sound. But 'Chak De' is a movie which goes about its purpose seriously : to show how a beloved sport, having fallen into the clutches of opportunists and bagmen, and petty, greedy, self-serving Dilli babus, can be rescued, with vision and determination.

It's not all rousing action and winning streaks, though. The first half, especially, is predictable, and a little stodgy, in the way it brings state champions into Delhi's national stadium, and has coach Kabir Khan holler at them: I don't want to hear the names of states, I only want to hear the name of my mulk, India. Welcome excitement creeps in, post interval, as the rag-tag team, gets whipped into shape, and goes on to win the world cup.

What makes Shimit Amin's film, his second after the gritty Ab Tak Chappan, stand out from the Yashraj clutter this year, is its ability to keep the tracks undiluted. None of the girls breaks into song and dance, and no one is allowed to show skin. Yes, really. Even when one of them comes onto the coach, in her desire to be made captain, we only hear the sound of the zip. Khan zips the jacket right back up, and with that, seals her desire to be part of Team India.

So does Shah Rukh cut it as a hockey player cum coach? This is SRK in realistic mode again, after Swades. When Coach Khan and his girls are out on the field, whacking everything in sight, and rampaging through the world's best teams, you think, hey, that looks do-able. When you hear a mob targeting the disgraced Kabir, who muffs a penalty shot in the dying moments of an important match at the peak of his career, as a Muslim and a gaddaar, you can see the pain and anguish in SRK's eyes. That's real, too. But Kabir Khan doesn't get as far from SRK, as NASA scientist Mohan Bhargav in Swades did.

Still, it is a brave role, executed with finesse, minus starry flourish. And some of the girls spark into life in the best moments in the film: especially the tiny Haryanvi spitfire, the Punjabi lass who lets fly in anger at the drop of a hockey stick, and the pretty thing from Chandigarh who wants to show her cricketing boyfriend just who the real star is. That's hockey, and the game. Chak De.

http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/209998.html

Bollyfm.net Review

Movie Score: 7.5/10

Chak De India (2007)

Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) knows what it's like to come back from the dead. The ex Indian Captain has now come back in the avatar of the Coach of the Indian Women's National Hockey team. A team that exists more on paper and less in reality. The team is a rag-tag bunch of girls with their own agenda. A bunch of girls who have forgotten what it is like to play for the love of the game. Of playing because you want glory for your country. Not because you want a pensioned job or a government flat. They have all forgotten the sharp thrill of just holding the hockey stick, keeping their eyes on the ball and playing for all they are worth.

They have played every game but hockey to make sure they get selected every year in the Indian National team. But what does it really mean to play for the Indian National team? To play for India? Mujhe sirf ek mulk ka naam sunaai deta hai - India The girls have never known the thrilling energy of being Team India. Of giving their all to see their country's name on a trophy. But Kabir Khan, once a captain, now forgotten, does.

He knows what it takes to get there. And what it means to return empty handed. This time, he wants to make sure that it's different. He knows there are no second chances. Despite his past, he believes that if only the girls played as one, anything would be possible. Because Kabir Khan believes that it is not that we can't win. It's just that we have never believed we can. Chak De India is the story of a coach's fight of making his team, Team India by overcoming their diverse backgrounds, by learning to use everything that life hurls on them as a secret weapon. It's a story about honesty, sincerity and integrity. A story to remind the nation of its national sport

http://www.bollyfm.net/bollyfm/mid/1288/titlemain.html

'Chak De India' opens to packed houses

August 10, 2007
source: Sawf News

New Delhi/Mumbai, Aug 10 (ANI): After flooring cine lovers in London, Chak De India - first Indian film based on country's women's hockey team- released to a tremendous response across the country on Friday.

The film, which stars Shahrukh Khan, revolves around the story of a women hockey team that goes onto win a World Cup.

The film received a warm welcome from cricket crazy Indian audience for its subject and storyline.

"The movie was really very nice. It was worth," said one of the cine goers, who admitted of being a greater fan of cricket star Sachin Tendulkar than Shahrukh Khan.

"The film gives a push to women hockey players as it could revive public interest in the dying game, which is also our national games," she added.

This film is a shift from a regular Bollywood movie as it diverts from the usual and delves into the unexplored arena of sports.

"The film is very good. It's a complete ShahRukh Khan film with lots of sporting action," said another viewer.

Not many films have been made on the subject and after 'Lagaan'-which was made on cricket, its 'Chak De India' that comes packed with a heavy dose of hockey for the audiences.

'Chak De India' is a story of a coach's fight of making his team overcome obstacles and motivate his team members to a historic victory.

"What happens to people who play it and what goes on a regular daily basis when you play it? How much training is done, how much drama happens behind the scene. What kinds of characters play this sport? Who plays it actually, when nobody really wants to play and what kind of women are involved in playing this. I had to gain that kind of knowledge," said Shimit Amin, director of the movie whose earlier directed 'Ab Tak Chappan" received rave reviews.

The story depicts a hockey team consisting of a rag-tag bunch of girls who get disillusioned with the system and resort to other games just to get a pensioned job and a secure future.

Their interest and passion is revived by a forgotten hockey coach, played by Khan, who enters into their lives and fuels them with a new vigor and enthusiasm to take up the sport with a new agenda- to bring laurel for their country.

The film also stars model Vidya Malvade along with a plethora of newcomers including one real life hockey player.

The film is devoid of the typical song-and-dance routine characteristic to Bollywood films.

"It has a very serious take. People who think after seeing a film will like it. People who just want more entertainment, they might be a bit disappointed and say, 'Oh, this is not having a song at all'. But, I think every good thinking person will enjoy the fact that we have attempted something like this," Khan said.

The character of Kabir Khan, the hockey coach, is believed to be inspired by a real-life former goalie Mir Ranjan Negi, who was charged with allegations of match fixing after India lost to Pakistan in 1982 Asian Games.

Seven years later Negi's honor was restored when he was absolved of the charges. He coached the national women's hockey team to win gold at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. (ANI)

http://news.sawf.org/Bollywood/41043.aspx