Nice to see bollywood grow up with age

Rating: 9/10 (5 October 2007)

Chak De! India The weekend started off with a movie I was waiting to watch.
Surely Chak De India!! Really did chak some phatte. A story of a disgraced player gets his guts together to get the bunch of misfits women hockey team to win the world cup. A very well put on-screen cast which makes it look natural, not all glamour bollywood style.
Chak De! India isn't quite a Lagaan or an Iqbal, selecting the sport more trodden rather than the one conventionally heralded, and so it isn't likely to expect applause in the aisles as the team manages to unite together.
King Uncle gets a right role for his age, for that grey beard which started to show up on his face. The fit of Shah Rukh as a hockey coach -- inspiring, canny, frustrated, helpless and profoundly hopeful -- is so naturally perfect that it's a wonder he hasn't done a sports film before. It's been a while since we've seen him visibly relish a role like this, Swades was one, Khan was simply super.
Finally a movie to replace the Swiss Flower fields with Aussie stadiums, which another way welcomes the return of the king.