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Bringing the restaurant home

Interview He hates peas but loves his pie. Meet Shimit Amin revelling in the glory of Chak De! India

Die hard Shimit Amin: 'I don't feel romance will remain out of fashion for long

Generally directors come to promote their film before the release but Shimit Amin turned up in the Capital after "Chak De India" hit the bull's eye at the box office. Says Shimit: "It was not about lack of faith in the product . The film's post production work kept us busy till the last moment. Very much like the story, the film's success is because of the team work." Shimit gives special credit to the film's sports action director Rob Miller for bringing the hockey scenes alive on screen. "The patience he showed with the girls was remarkable. The game is of 70-minute duration, but on reel a single pass could take eight hours to shoot. Plus you have to keep the same energy level going." The difficulty level in shooting the game, feels Shimit, is one of the reasons that nobody made hockey a theme on celluloid before.

About food Shimit says: When I am shooting I feel I deserve to take more calories and in the process sometimes over eat." Shimit was assisting some independent filmmakers in Hollywood before he met Ram Gopal Varma through a common friend and got to edit Bhoot. Ab Tak Chappan followed. And now with "Chak De" for Yash Raj banner, he has proved you don't necessarily serenade the Alps for success. "I don't feel romance will remain out of fashion for long. It's like home food for Indian audience. Some times they might try restaurant food but finally they will come back to ghar ka khana."

In that case what will happen to guys like him? "For us the challenge is to present restaurant food as ghar ka khaana," he quips.

Is that the reason that the characterisation in "Chak De" is stereotypical? "Yes, to an extent. For the budget of the film was so big that we could not have afforded to make an art house film. So we went by certain stereotypes. We broke some and retained some."

Talking of stereotypes, Shimit shares during the shoot in Australia they kept separate food for Australian and Indian units. "But on the very first day we saw people crossing over from their respective food preferences. Being a light eater I found the portions in Australian food quite substantial." Shimit says none of the girls was fussy over food and for Shah Rukh it was just chicken in all possible forms.

Life is like an apple pie – his favourite – these days, but Shimit is working towards versatility. "I am trying to raise my interest level in music."

ANUJ KUMAR

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/08/30/stories/2007083050840100. htm

It hurts when people say I can't act: SRK

Shubha Shetty-Saha
Thursday, August 30, 2007 23:59 IST

Yet Shah Rukh Khan is surprised that 'Chak De India', a film he did for his personal satisfaction, is such a huge success!

Congratulate him on the success of 'Chak De India' and he surprises you with, "I am glad it worked because sometimes I do films for his my own satisfaction like 'Paheli' and 'Swades', but they don't always work commercially," he says.

The actor reveals candidly, "I generally do films which are bound to be successful. But, once a year, I do one film for my own personal satisfaction as an actor. 'Chak De' was one such film and I am glad that it has worked."

However, it's not the flops that upset him. "It makes me very unhappy when people say I cannot act. Without wanting to sound pompous, if I have survived in this industry for 19 years, I must know something. I definitely can't be a fluke," he says.

Ask him who his favourite director is and he gets diplomatic, "I have worked with most established as well as new directors. I find everyone unique in some way of the other. I have enjoyed working with 90 percent of them. I am someone who is a complete slave to the director. However, I need to enjoy what I am doing. I love the process of film making," he says.

s_shubha@dnaindia.net

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?Newsid=1118784

Can Chak De! India revive interest in hockey?

1 Sep 2007, 0002 hrs IST,Ronojoy Sen

Chak De! India is a runaway hit. It's that rare Bollywood film which has no leading lady, no love angle and no song-and-dance routines. Yet it has succeeded in bringing in audiences with a plot that we don't usually associate with box office success: the struggles of the Indian women's hockey team and its coach. Chak De's success lies in a clever script that plays on patriotism, fresh faces who make up the hockey team and, of course, Shah Rukh Khan who is in the lead role. However, a crucial element of the film is the superb on-field hockey sequences where several greats, including former India captain Zafar Iqbal, gave their inputs.

Chak De 's popularity has brought welcome attention to hockey, a sport that has over the years been upstaged in India by cricket and football. The young cast who played the hockey stars in the film is all over television and newspapers. Is this just a passing love affair with hockey? It could well be argued — as hockey star Dhanraj Pillay has — that once the hype over Chak De dies, the game will again become a footnote. But that would be an unduly pessimistic view. By bringing back hockey to the national consciousness, even if momentarily, Chak De can boost the fortunes of a much-neglected sport.

Chak De 's popularity has resulted in a spike in the sale of hockey gear in some parts of the country. People are once again talking about hockey in the streets, schools and drawing rooms. If we are to ensure that this doesn't remain idle chatter, concerted efforts must be made by the hockey federation to build on the popularity of the film.

Members of the Indian women's hockey team — as indeed the Indian cricket squad — have seen Chak De several times and said that it would serve as an inspiration in future tournaments. If some of this enthusiasm percolates to younger people, the film would have done its bit for hockey.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Can_Chak_De_revive_hockey /articleshow/2328082.cms

VIEW: Can Chak De! India revive interest in hockey?

1 Sep 2007, 0009 hrs IST

Can the success of a film inspire a people to take up a particular sport? Unlikely. Chak De ! India is no different. The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer is a box office hit. But the film's a hit because of the star power of Shah Rukh and not because he or the support cast is wielding a hockey stick. Hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay summed up the situation well when a reporter asked him if the film could spawn a new generation of players or hockey fans. They'll talk about hockey for five days and then forget about it, he said. Pillay, who has attracted fans all over the world with his wizardry on the field during his playing days, should know that the game is played hard on the ground and not on celluloid.

Crowds gather to watch Chak De because it is riveting cinema. Like many successful films, this one too has a good story and says it well. Hockey forms the background and provides the director situations to portray complex human relationships. The human drama in the film has caught the attention of cinema lovers. So, it is unlikely that Chak De fans spurred by the film's cast would now play hockey, troop to the stadium or watch the game on television. The game is what is played on the ground, not in movie theatres. Sporting culture is physical. The passive act of watching a film, or even the live telecast of a game, can hardly inspire the revival of a sport. Take the case of cricket. The big boom in the game's popularity happened after India won the 1983 World Cup. The event caught the imagination of the public. No film could have achieved a similar breakthrough. Hockey was once the king of sport in India. That was without any support from cinema. Interest in the game started declining when we stopped winning. Who would watch a loser?

The revival of hockey, or any sport, can happen only if more people play the game at the grass roots. Build the infrastructure to make that possible. Let us have more grounds for our children. Let schools inculcate a sporting culture among students. We will then begin to have better players and better teams. People will pay to watch the game.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/VIEW_Ca n_Chak_De_India_revive_interest_in_hockey/articleshow/232809 9.cms

SEVEN DAYS IN MUMBAI - Chak de Mumbai

SRK and his band of girls have a new slogan echoing around your city's playing fields. Can it transcend pop-patriotism and make Mumbai India's sports capital? } LIKE IT HAS HAPPENED SO MANY TIMES BEFORE, MUMBAI LEADS FROM THE FRONT; BOLLYWOOD HAS PROVIDED THE IMPETUS AND THE BALL HAS NOW BEEN GRABBED BY MUMBAI'S SCHOOL-AND COLLEGE- GOING KIDS

"YEH MERE Dil Me Kaisa Junoon" (loose translation "This frenzy in me"), a line from the chartbuster Junoon sung by Mumbai lad Abhijit Sawant, is my favourite these days.

Abhijit, by becoming the first Indian idol, and now, by releasing this sufi-pop album, has only underscored the fact Mumbai that leads, at least in the world of entertainment. It used to do so in the world of sports too, having nurtured world-class cricketers, hockey, snooker and tennis players but alas, the leader has slipped in recent years. Sports was globali- sation's many victims as Mumbai's young took to either earning money with a vengeance or turning into Internet or- phans.

After I watched the Shah Rukh Khan- starrer, Chak de India, Abhi jit's words took on a new meaning. The film could not have been released at a more opportune moment. Indian sports have hit rock bottom and the only way from there is up. So, while I carry Abhijit's words on my lips, like coach Kabir Khan, I harbour a desire in my heart. Hope springs not only from eternal optimism and belief in this country but also from the first tentative signs emerging in schools and colleges of Mumbai.

It happened to me twice last week. One evening, watching a football session in a well-known college in Bandra, that cradle of Mumbai sports, I saw a group of students shouting words of encouragement from the stands. 'C'mon guys' and 'Pass, yaar' were punctuated by the word 'Chak de'. I suspect half of them did not know the meaning of the word, yet, here was a bunch of youngsters obviously hailing from different strata of society, bound by their love for football. The one word that unified them in their passion as Indians – 'Chak de'. It was the same when I walked past another ground in far-flung Borivli.

Once, Mumbai used to be the nation's sports capital. Till the slide happened.

My heart, though says, Chak de is set to change all that. And Mumbai shall lead once again. Of course, the Nehru Cup win could not have come at a more apt moment. Suddenly, India seems to be playing ball in the world of sports. Maybe, history will show that it all started because of a Hindi film, but so what. After all, Mumbai is home to one of the world's largest film in dustry .

Chak de may also not be the first true-blue sports film; Lagaan was there before. My gut feeling is that Shah Rukh and his band of girls will go the way of Rang De Basanti and do much more for Indian sports than Aamir Khan and his on-screen team did.

Lagaan was essentially an Indian freedom struggle epic, cleverly mar keted in cricketing white. It took the na tionalist spirit to a height rarely seen in In dependent India but did little for the game. On the other hand, by taking a hard look at the state of our national sport, hockey, Chak de delivers a commentary on Indian sports per se.

Tucked somewhere is also the message than it can't get worse than this. Like it has happened so many times before, Mumbai leads from the front. Bollywood has provid ed the impetus and the ball has now been grabbed by Mumbai's school-and-college going kids. My fervent hope is that they now raise it from the level of mere pop-pa triotism. Let's show the way for the rest of the country, Mumbai. 'Chak de Mum bai.'(Go, Mumbai!) sorab.ghaswalla@hindustantimes.com (This is an occasional column that will explore Mumbai's successes - and how we can build on them. Comments are welcome at editormumbai@hindustantimes.com)

Editor of HT lives-Epaper Edition

Chak De India gang spills the beans on Radio One FM 94.3

This spirited bunch of ladies is part of a team that has taken the whole of India by storm. The magic of these Chak De girls from the film 'Chak De India' is all over the country. The team's captain Vidya (Vidya Malavde), the senior-most player Bindiya (Shilpa Shukla), the beautiful centre forward Preeti Sabbarwal (Sagarika Ghatge), and the team's other centre forward, Komal Choutala (Chitrashi Rawat) unfold some untold stories of their journey with Chak De India on BBC Ek Mulakat aired on Radio One FM 94.3 on 2nd September, Sunday.

From over night stardom to newfound team spirit and appreciation amongst themselves these girls have a lot to learn from. Their contagious belief in the movie's success when thay say "The film is so full of energy that people had to like it", and their willpower to strive further in their careers is evident in the interview. Vidya. Bindiya, Komal and Preeti reveal the light moments spent with the superstar Shahrukh Khan along with insights on each girl in the team. Komal is described as "When she is acting it's a different thing, but otherwise she is a very stylish girl. Her nails are long and groomed. She wears heels…" by Preeti, Vidya and Bindiya.

Vidya speaks fondly on behalf of the others in the team about Shahrukh Khan when she says, "I have seen Chak De India five times. Every time, my love for Shahrukh Khan increases. His personality is very magnetic…amazing actor… If you meet him for two minutes, you will feel like meeting him for two hours, if you meet him for two hours then you will feel like meeting him for two days and then two years…"

Of course Komal specifies that she has taken the copyright for the famous buffalo's tail dialogue from Jaideep. She again for the nth time delights her listeners with her dialogue, "Khelne-wala hel rahega, railne wala fail rahega. Jo zyaada marodega moonch, who jaaye chaat le bhains ki poonch".

The zeal, zest, fondness and enthusiastic nature of these girls surely shows they will play a long game to come, be it hockey or their lives.

So tune on to Radio One FM 94.3 on 2nd September at 12 noon to hear these power-packed girls from Chak De India on the show BBC Ek Mulakat

- End -

http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/advertising/20070831 4321.htm

COMMENT

The stuff of fairy tales

NUPUR BASU


"Chak De India" is a war cry that we all needed to hear at this juncture. And it matters little that it had to come from Bollywood.

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Just the sheer presence of women on these serials has triggered a strange kind of emancipation in women in India and across the borders.
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The making of Team India: The actors of "Chak De India".

Sitting in an old fashioned cinema theatre in Bangalore (the last existing relics of that kind in an ever changing city) and watching "Chak De India" with two of my girl friends and surrounded by a cacophony of cheering young women , was indeed a cinema experience this week.

Appealing theme

I couldn't help thinking to myself that my late grandmother, a Bengali matriarch in every sense of the word, would have thoroughly enjoyed it. I certainly know that my otherwise Potter-manic nieces aged 19, 12 and 8 rocked with it. Droves of school girls making a beeline for the cinemas across the country to watch "Chak De India" is both amusing and heartening.

Sports and the underdog have always been heady themes that have gone down well in films like "Lagaan" and "Iqbal", the Oscar winning "Chariots of Fire" and the greatest football film ever made — "Escape to Victory".

But clearly this one had a spin that appealed to the distaff side. An out-of-favour, under-confident women's hockey team's heady rise to World Number One under the watchful eyes of an angst ridden coach, obsessed with a passion for the game, and having to clear unfair prejudices levelled against him, certainly made for emotional celluloid.

"Chak De India" is a fairy tale. A fairy tale that needed to be told in India at this juncture through the powerful medium of popular cinema where seeds of "Indian woman — believe in thyself" is being sowed by none other than Bollywood's King Khan.

The film tries to peel the layers to uncover prejudices against women, prejudices against women sportspersons, and prejudices against minorities. Name it and the fault lines of contemporary India on it's 60th birthday are showcased in nuanced and not-so-nuanced ways.

As one left the theatre gripped by optimism of the film's catchy theme song, one couldn't help wondering: what if the ballistic "Chak De India" song could become a war cry for daughters of India? For a while in the dark theatre, the power unleashed by a fictional women's hockey team and their passionate coach became a heady symbol of what India's women should do or could do... take a deep breath and scream out loud as if there is no tomorrow: "Chak de: Bharat de kudi." (Go for it ... Daughters of India.)

Reality, not fiction

Ours is a country where unborn girls are being killed with impunity using the latest medical technology, resulting in one of the worst sex ratio distortions in the world, where women are becoming helpless victims of the AIDS graph because their partners will not allow them to have safe sex, where girl children have to give up the joys of school because they need to fetch water walking miles alongside their mothers, where a vicious cycle of malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished underweight babies (33 per cent of India's children are born underweight),where women cannot marry unless they have a neat little kitty for their prospective greedy grooms as dowry, and even if they manage to have something it is never enough, where women's inheritance rights are still shrouded in patriarchal purdah, where women's work in agriculture ,unorganised labour and organised work is either not accounted for or underplayed, where women are burnt with acid by husbands, lov ers or mere roadside rogues and who coolly walk away free with a bail …the list could take all of this article's wordage .

The film also reminds you that it is not just about how women are an unwanted commodity in India but how the system finds its victims in other segments as well. At the heart of the film lies the central character, hockey coach Kabir Khan's unfair trial as a minority. (Interestingly, Shah Rukh Khan is playing a Muslim character on screen for the first time.) A trial by fire many minorities in India experience for no fault of theirs and, increasingly so.

What of the exploitation of Dalits and the manifestations of hate on that score on different occasions? Very often, once again it is women who are at the heart of the violations, whether it be in Gujarat post-Godhra or Dalit women with recorded instances of being made to walk nude in villages in Karnataka by upper caste men in revenge mode or Dalit women and children beaten and killed in Tirunelvelli and Kodiyankulam inTamil Nadu by the very forces meant to protect them: policemen.

Setting the agenda

Cinema, media images and television have the power to set powerful trends, if not trigger revolutions. Recently, a U.S.-based agency highlighted that TV soaps in India had empowered women in the country.

The Delhi-based Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), which has been involved with TV content analysis for over a decade now, has maintained that TV fiction is a very important source of influence in women's lives. In a report titled "Hear the people", CFAR observes: "The Basti women have responded to modernity on TV in a fairly positive manner because they perceive it as a tool for empowerment".

In a documentary film I directed titled, "Michael Jackson Comes to Manikganj", filming from Peshawar in North West Frontier Province to Kandy in Sri Lanka to assess the impact of satellite television on south Asia, I came across sari-clad, rural farm women in Bangladesh coyly telling me in Bengali: "Oi shob dekhe pant porte ichhe kore" (When we see these serials we also feel like wearing trousers).

Just the sheer presence of women on these ever popular serials — good, bad and ugly — has triggered a strange kind of emancipation in women in urban and rural India and across the border in the region. After all, Kabul did shut down, we were told, at prime time when "Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" was being aired!

Need of the hour

TV images, celluloid dreams, whatever. What this country or region needs is a determined war cry like "Chak De". And so be it if it can be inspired by the region's biggest obsession: Bollywood .

Nupur Basu is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker.

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/09/02/stories/2007090250080400 .htm

Will Chak De spur Pak?

Chennai

Japan are on a high in the Asia Cup. After beating Pakistan for the first time in their history, the Japanese have made the race for semi- final berths in Group 'A' riveting. Pakistan coach Islahuddin Siddiqui put up a brave face in the post- match press conference. Never once did he lose his cool though, deep down, he seemed to be feeling the pain. There is not much at stake for Pakistan, who have already qualified for next year's Olympics, in the Asia Cup. But winning is a habit and the Pakistanis will be keen to banish the Japan blip.

Pakistan have found a novel way to get their Asia Cup campaign back on the rails: all the 26 members of their contingent watched Chak De, India in a prominent city(Chennai) theatre on Sunday evening. Whether the film in which Shah Rukh Khan plays the role of an inspirational hockey coach has motivated the Pakistanis remains to be seen on the field two days later when they take on Malaysia in a crucial tie.

deccan.chronicle print edition

CHAK DE ! SHIMIT

Chak De! India director Shimit Amin talks to LT about the making of his film, his alleged altercation with SRK and Hollywood.

TUSHAR BEHL
Print Edition of Lucknow Times

HE's just two films old, but has already become a force to reckon with as a Bollywood filmmaker. And the man in the spotlight is Shimit Amin, the director who has made the entire nation shout aloud, Chak De….. O chak de India…..

Born in Uganda, this science graduate from the University of Florida has dabbled in all forms of the filmmaking craft. In fact, he even had a short stint in Hollywood as well. And here in Bollywood, Shimit's first film Ab Tak Chhappan won him accolades, stamping his authority as an accomplished filmmaker.

In an exclusive chat with LT, Shimit talks about his latest flick Chak De! India and obviously, about the controversies about him and on Shah Rukh Khan not getting along with him during the making of the film.
"There were lot of rumours that there was friction between me and Shah Rukh during the making of Chak De and that we even had a heated exchange of words. But these are completely false interpretations.

Somebody was trying to do a negative publicity. Shah Rukh is such a nice guy and gets along well with everybody on the sets. He's never had any problem with anybody in his life," concedes Shimit, adding, "In fact Shah Rukh himself once said that he agreed to do this film not for Aditya Chopra but for me as he considers me his very good friend." Moving back to his latest blockbuster, Shimit says although making of a team sports movie is a timeworn genre, but Chak De! India had new variations. "The entire gamut of characters present in the film have never been portrayed in the past. Technically speaking, it was very challenging to make a movie like Chak De! India," claims Shimit. Shimit, having made women hockey centric film hopes and prays that the film will provide the much needed fillip to Indian women's hockey. "I love the sport, albeit I haven't played hockey myself ever. I wish this film will help in opening more avenues for the hockey players of this country" states Shimit. And what does he have to say of the unconventional nature of the film? "See, the elements of Chak De! India may not be commercial, but it's heart and soul is very commercial. Aditya saw the vision of the film and it translated nicely on screen," replies Shimit. Shimit was all praise for all the newcomer girls who played a vital role in the film's success. "All the girls were extremely enthusiastic and energetic on the sets. They used to put in a lot of effort in the training sessions that we had organised for them," informs Shimit. So what is that inspires him to portray real life stories in his movies? "Well, it's purely a coincidence that both my directed films have a connection with real life heroes/losers. But I agree that both film's script and characters had a kind of Indianness in them," agrees Shimit.

On a different note, Shimit narrates his experience of working with Ram Gopal Varma productions and Yash Raj Camp. He states, "I enjoyed working with both. Actually, both have a lot of similarities. Both have passion for films and are committed to make good cinema. They really care for the kind of movies they are making."

So, what inspires this competent filmmaker? "An opportunity to do something very challenging inspires me a lot. And to work on a good script and characters is a big challenge," replies Shimit.

In the initial phase of his career, Shimit has worked in Hollywood, doing a lot of editing and camera assistance. Commenting on Hollywood and the Indian film industry he says, "If you draw a comparison between Hollywood and Bollywood, I feel people in Bollywood are more committed and care more about each other. They (Bollywood) take the film to another level while Hollywood is more business centric and emotionally they don't connect the way our Bollywood people do," states Shimit.

"The Blue Umbrella" made tax-free

30 Aug, 2007, 1500 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: Children's film "The Blue Umbrella" has been made tax-free in the capital. "Delhi Government has decided to waive off the entrainment tax on the film with effect from today," a senior official told the media. He said a decision to exempt the Vishal Bharadwaj directed movie from tax was taken as it promotes humane values among children. The film starring Pankaj Kapoor is based on Ruskin Bond's novel .

"The Blue Umbrella." The state government is also planning to make "Chak De India" free from entertainment tax. A Delhi Government film review committee has sent its recommendations to make the Shahrukh Khan-starrer exempted from tax.

"The review committee members were of the opinion that the film promotes patriotism, plight of sports particularly hockey in the country and girl's participation in sports and how they are biased," the official said. Maharashtra has already made the film tax-free.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Th e_Blue_Umbrella_made_tax-free/articleshow/2322860.cms