Chak de Chak de, Ek Hockey doongi main Rakh ke!

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2007)

Yes I went to see the film because I saw Shahrukh looking super good in the promos (what can I say - I am a shallow person!). But what kept me glued to the seat with my eyes fixed on the screen was a motley crew of ordinary girls with extra-ordinary attitude. AND I like hockey, wish the glory days were back.
Chak de India is an out and out sports film, there is a disgraced coach, there is a team that is fragmented and needs team spirit, and there are matches to be won and glory to reap. The film follows a rather linear path and does not dish out any surprises except one - it is unpredictably wonderful! My football and basketball fanatic little nephew was shouting "goal" at every score and the audience was as mesmerized at this tournament being played out on celluloid as they would have been at the live event. There were cheers and claps at every win. Why? Because this team was real, we watched them turn into a team and we yearned for their day in the lights as much as they did. Of course it was a Cinderella story - but what made the story poignant was the fact that all this happened for real, that there was indeed an extraordinary player who was disgraced and redeemed himself in exactly this fashion.
The script was taut, the editing was superb, there were no unnecessary moments in the film. There were no cringe inducing dialogs, no useless song and dance routines, no romance backdrop of the coach falling for the star (a la Bend it Like Beckham). The music was uplifting and extremely well integrated into the narrative - Kuch Kariye was inspirational, Maula mere haunting, Badal Pe Paon a most exuberant transition from stuck in the back waters to out in the happening place of the World Cup! The girls were superbly cast - they represented the true face of India, with all its diversity and its problems that relate to this diversity. Their bickering, their in fights, quest for personal glory and how this slowly changed into a camaraderie was extremely well done. Komal Chautala (Chitrashi Rawat) was CUTE, Bindiya Nayak (Shilpa Shukla) was awesome as the bad girl of the team, Preeti Sabharwal (Segarika Ghatge) was hot, Tanya Abrol was awesome as the Hockey Doongi Balbir, Vidya Sharma (Vidya Malvade) was good as the conflicted housewife turned goalie/captain, but my personal favorite was SoiMoi (Nisha Nair) the girl from Jharkhand. Every one was given their moments to tell us why we should care about them. The other supporting cast of the assistant coach and the federation people did their job well. Of course I had gone in expecting to see SRK in a hot new incarnation. What I saw was a man who was a coach, a haunted man with agony in his eyes, a fire in his belly and a desire to redeem himself at all costs. After about the first 10 minutes I did not even care that Mr. Khan was looking the best he has done in years - he was coach Kabir Khan, the tarter, the disciplinarian, the psychologist, the motivator and above all the man who was in for the long haul and was going to make a miracle happen.
Shimit's direction was superb, Jaideep Sahni wrote a stirring tale, and together with the actors they made sure that this was not just another sports Cinderella story. This was a tale about the empowerment of women, and showcased their ability to triumph in the face of innumerable hurdles both in the home and outside. Chak De!!