Indian wedding

Yash Raj Films'
CHAK DE! INDIA

Produced by: Aditya Chopra
Directed by: Shimit Amin
Music: Salim-Sulaiman
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Malavde, Sagarika Ghatge, Chitrashi Rawat, Shilpa Shukla, Tanya Abrol, Javed Khan and others.

Instructs, Elevates - And Entertains Too
As they say, this isn't cricket. Our sports authorities have never given our national game, hockey, anywhere near the importance as it has given the now glamorous sport of cricket. If that's not bad enough, the gender discrimination against the female of the species has classified - but for a few star exceptions -all sportswomen as 'belan chalaane wali ' (those who are experts with the rolling-pin) who have foolishly ventured into professional playing.

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Finally, and most crucially, the Indian psyche is more into looking down at fellow Indians and thinking on 'me-first' terms. Put together, these three factors can be lethal to the future of Indian sports and sportspeople in general and our performances at international platforms in particular.

What is Yash Raj Films' first substantial film this year, these vital shortcomings that make India strike an ignominious picture in the international arena are graphically spotlighted and depicted by a humdinger of a Jaideep Sahni (Khosla Ka Ghosla, Company, Bunty Aur Babli) script and some superb direction from Shimit Amin (Ab Tak Chhappan).

Meet then Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), India's best centre forward in hockey. After a single mistake that costs India a crucial goal against Pakistan in the World Cup Final, when he exhibits sportsmanship by congratulating the winning opponents, he is accused of being in cahoots with them, his being a Muslim seeming to affirm this. Punished by the Hockey Board, he has to even leave his mohalla and ancestral house.

Seven years, three months and 14 days later (Khan has been counting the days) he gets his chance at redemption - more because the Board can get no one else! He has to coach regional hockey companions - possibly for the Women's World Cup. And so he meets the 'team' - a motley group of young girls (three of them with the baggage of personal problems that surface on the way) who think provincial.

But before he teaches them world-class hockey, he has to instil everything from discipline to the very vital team spirit and national pride in them, deal with their arrogance at being local champs and the cream of the nation vis-à-vis his disgraced status, and convince the Board (and bored!) authorities that they can match even the Indian Men's Hockey team.

The progress is gradual, beset with hurdles and defeats - and thus very believable, just like the hockey sequences. The clashes between the girls, their slow evolution and the gradual respect for their coach is brilliantly shown with the right mix of pithy but crisp dialogues, super camerawork (Sudeep Chaterjee), excellent editing (Amitabh Shukla) and some inspired direction. All the protagonists come across as real and close-to-life, even as the film maintains a riveting, entertaining quality.

The music (both songs and background) could have been better, but we must applaud Shimit and Jaideep in particular for their evolution. The relationships between the main characters are insightful, and we will forgive the cracks against cricket as they express a long pent-up and justified grouse among Indian players of every other game whose potential is fatally stonewalled by our obsession with the commonwealth game.

We will also overlook the "filmy" resolution of the team's conflict with Kabir, for it makes for drama that appeals across all levels of the audience, and makes for a cheering sequence.

The girls are fantastic, especially Sagarika Ghatge as Preeti, Chitrashi as the Hariyanvi spitfire Komal, Vidya Malavde as Vidya and Shilpa Shukla as the rebel. Javed Khan is brilliant and Aanjjan hams to the perfect extent.

But Chak De! India belongs to an underrated actor named Shah Rukh Khan. His pain is palpable, his energy infectious and his performance devoid of starry affectation. If Chak De... at any level gets the audience involved deeply with the characters, scores over both Lagaan and Iqbal, it is entirely due to his flawless, nuanced performance.

Don't miss this one.

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