Subtle, yet powerful. A must watch!

Rating: 9/10 (9 April 2012)

How often do we get a very simple story that makes the biggest impact possible? How often does a dull colorless looking film put a huge smile on your face by the end of the screening? You don't see much of that in Hindi cinema. Chak De does not preach, it does not bore, in fact it's just telling you a story with one sequence or another the viewer can relate to.
Kabir Khan, once a caption of the Indian hockey team is accused of match fixing due to a leaked picture of a casual handshake between him and the Pakistani Captain. One circumstance leads to another, having Kabir fired and out of the team. Not only is Kabir fired but also heavily criticized and labeled as a traitor.
Years later, Kabir returns to hockey. Not to play, but to coach a group of young girls from various states. Then starts Kabir's journey to lead his team to victory and regain his lost respect. As they say, the journey is more important than reaching the destination. Chak De is one tough journey of a coach and his group of girls who don't even know how to play as a team.
Chak De talks about a good number of issues that we all see in our everyday lives. However, it's not the talk of the issues that win you over but it's how subtly the writer points it all out.
Let's analyze: Chak De talks about India's national sport - No, not cricket. Very few know that field hockey was known as India's national sport in which we have received Olympic honors decades ago. Since the cricket wave hit, Indians forgot about their national sport.
Chak De talks about the role of women in our country. Normally seen as housewives, Indian woman in sports is frowned upon. Chak De mentions that in scenes when a player talks to Kabir about her husband. Or when the girls are rejected permission to go to the tournament.
Finally, Chak De is basically about playing for your country over anything else. Whether your Punjabi, Gujrati, Tamil, Bengali or Bihari - It's about I-N-D-I-A. As mentioned in a striking scene in the initial reels.
there are so many remarkable scenes in the movie. To name a couple, the McDonalds scene is genius. Of Course the climax is electrifying.
The writing is flawless. Screenplay glues you. The dialogues are touching, fresh and not a tad bit cheesy. Bravo Jaideep Sahni! Salim-Suleman's music is underrated. The title song and Maula mere are bout gems. Background score is amazing.
Shimmit Amin's direction is top notch. It was his second film after a thrilling Ab Tak Chappan. Hard to believe? All girls are natural. Some are hockey players in real life and some are in reel life. They all play their parts flawlessly. Especially the one's that play Balbir, Komal, Vidiya, Alia and Preeti, respectively.
Shah Rukh Khan is the heart and soul of Chak De India. Every expression, dialogue, mannerism, smile, cry, it's flawless. He carries Chak De all the way. A subtle act that speaks so loudly about the man's talent. One of his best performances. (Says a lot since he's got a great resume of performances) Aplaudworthy! Overall - Chak De is poetic, controversial and nothing short of a classic.