Chak De India

Rating: 7/10 (19 August 2007)

Any Shah Rukh Khan movie creates a general interest in movie-goer crazy public of India, so with Chak De India releasing during the Independence day week with Shah Rukh playing the lead surely was a big draw for the crowds in India.
The story is about Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) who faces humiliation after unable to score a penalty goal in a World Cup Final match against Pakistan and comes back after 7 years to coach the India Girls' Hockey Team that has good players from 16 Indian states  but the team is fragmented with Regional biases, language difference, player egos, senior and juniors, north and south, rich and poor etc. On top of that nobody has any expectations from the Indian Girls' Hockey Team. From a side that is considered down and out from the beginning, Kabir Khan  takes it as his personal challenge to take that team to the World Cup Final and win the match against Australia.
Director Shimit Amin (Ab Tak Chappan) joins hands with Yash-Raj Productions to deliver this patriotic movie on the down and under team and sports. I think he has done a very good job in making the movie.
Shah Rukh Khan pumps all the iron and grit into the role of Kabir Khan, and one feels the pains of his subdued but powerful acting. His body language, his words, his eyes  I think this is one of his best delivered performances. Why I say this is because the role does not have the regular stamp of what Shah Rukh can do and thus he is so good in this role.
From the team of 16 girls  three girls stand out and capture your imagination. First a senior egoist Maharashtrian player Bindya Naik (Shilpa Shukla) who does all to break the team  but in the end crunch game against South Korea delivers the goods for India, second the small Haryana tomboyish girl Komal (Chitrashi Rawat) who is a brilliant Right In player who sacrifices her goal ambition to another player in the finals for India and third the Punjabi puttar girl Balbir (Tanya Abrol) who is fearless, with a heart of gold and a body of ruthless destroyers  whatever she speaks strikes your heart chords.
Seemingly I need to mention 3 brilliant scenes in the movie that brings applaud for the sheer strength of emotions it draws  first, the McDonal scene where the girls get-to-gather and bash up eve-teasers; second, the match against Indian men's hockey team when the girls score their first goal; and third is the scene when in the finals against Australia when tomboyish Komal forgets her rivalry with another Indian girl and passes the ball to help India score a goal.
How can I not forget to mention the 3 dialogues that remain with you - all are spoken by Shah Rukh. First, I can only hear one sound  India (and not regional states); second, the only villain of this team is the coach; and third, if you play well God also will not be able to take the 70 minutes of your life (the finals!).
Surely the movie is too predictable and clichéd. I was expecting a more innovative direction and screenplay from Shimit Amin. Except a few characters other characters are not well developed. There is no STYLE in the movie. The regional angle though touched remains in the sidelines and as token representation. The same with the religious secularism that India boasts off  such movies are breaking grounds to highlight them, but Shimit ignores this opportunity. So does he does not give a brighter scene to the Muslim protagonist in the team  Iqbal. With Indian audiences a cursory angle to such themes would create much more patriotic feel.
A good entertainer. I loved it.
(Stars 7.0 out of 10)