United They Stood

Rating: 10/10 (10 August 2007)

Making a sports based movie in my opinion is a very tricky affair because of two things.Firsty,99% of the sports based films have the same conclusion,i.e David winning over a Goliath ,which the audience knows from the very beginning and Secondly, no matter how much tipsy topsy turvy the screenplay is,the climax scene is where the minnows and the audience rejoice ,exception being Rocky I ,which is one of the best motion pictures ever produced in my opinion.
Be it The Longest Yard,Bend It Like Beckahm,Major League,Angels in the Outfield or our very own Lagaan ,Iqbal ,they all have the same thing. A bunch of not so good team-mates end up winning the world.So in short,when it comes to sporty flicks, we all know everything,yet we watch it and enjoy the every bit of it.
Chak De India , is good but not great.Yet I believe it couldn't have been better.Confused?So am I.The theme is good, the performances are good, the direction is good,but you know what, the sport called Hockey looks dull (which in reality it isn't).The movie starts of well,but one doesn't feel the excitement(in the matches) which one noticed, when say, Kachra of Lagaan got a Hattrick or when Charlie Sheen did it for The Indians in Major League.Hockey doesn't look good on the big screen but Shah Rukh Khan and Bindya Naik(dunno her name) make this movie work. I think the coach and the rebellion plot and then the Mcdonald scenes were terrific. Shah Rukh as Kabir Khan is solid and the girls give him ample support.Dialogues are very good but I wish this movie was 15 mins shorter.And they could have used the title track more often.
Don't expect it to be another Mughal E Azam,but it ain't gonna be a dud either because those who were coming out of theatre looked positive.
United they stood,and they won the match,but sadly we are a nation which still believes in a Bhuvan hitting a six off the last ball and not a chick goalie saving a scorching shot so may be that's y I still consider Aamir Khan's Awwal Number as a fantastic movie.
7 OUT OF 10
Go enjoy Chak de India and Fcuk de box-office