Chak De! India (2007)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Chuck De India is a sports film based on real life incidence. Mir Ranjan Negi, Indian hokey player of inspired Shah Rukh Khan's role in "Chak De! India". Mir Ranjan Negi returned to be the coach of the India women's national field hockey team. The team won the Gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He was also the assistant coach for the Women's team when it won the Gold at the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup.After reading news in press, screenwriter Jaideep Sahani got inspired to write a script of this film. The script focuses on hokey as a game, cultural diversity, women empowerment, new age family system and national integrity. Jaideep Sahani also stated in another interview with NDTV.com that, "the script was conceived before he met Negi, after reading the script he started crying. He said it had happened to me also."Uniqueness of this film is Mir Ranjan Negi personally trained these girls for this film. This film is beyond the documentary of Mir Ranjan Negi. It helped to handle the aspect of sports psychology. Journalist Anand Philar stated, "He had covered Asian Games final. The game tossed goalkeeper Negi's life upside down. Negi was criticized by media; headlines cried: he is a 'traitor." Anand Philar took Negi's interview, Negi's stated, "Everywhere I went, I was abused by the public. Nothing matters to me more than playing for my country. I am a proud Indian and will always be so. Former captain Zafar Iqbal expressed, "The entire team was to blame; we forwards missed chances, the defense had huge gaps that the Pakistanis exploited. After many years Negi returned to train Indian women hokey team. His India women's national field hockey team won the 2002 Commonwealth Games.According to sports psychology, 'self and identity' are pivotal parts of personality over 'the body self'. The self is based on felt experiences of the environment. We find different girls form different background, and are reluctant to change. We find the answer in sports psychology, 'the body self' evolves from this constant flow of experience. The body self is defined in unity with the self-concept or the self as personal construction. There are three strategies need to be followed for the social construction of the self image.In country like India, sports like hokey or cricket are attached with national identity. We find the schoolboy jingoism replaces the patriotism. George Orwell called the "lunatic habit of identifying with larger power units, and seeing everything in terms of competitive prestige". Journalist Somini Sengupta wrote an article in The New York Times "Bollywood have been keen observer and welder of the national mood. Journalist Shiv Visvanathan, wrote an article in The Hindu, which explains this sub continental rivalry between India and Pakistan. People from both countries take sports as their national pride. We find more chauvinism than patriotism in their support. Shiv Visvanathan aptly notes, "Chauvinism and patriotism are different terminologies. Chauvinism is a belief that the nation can do no wrong. Patriotism is open-ended; it allows error or vulnerability, it is diversified. It does not condemn. A patriot is loyal to the nation and cosmopolitan in outlook. Patriotic individual need not to wears uniform or get involved in any ritual. As social psychology offer two dominant theory of identity – identity theory (Stryker, 1977; Burke, 1980) and social identity theory (Turner, 1979). George J. McCall, Jerry Laird Simmons explained the roll-identity theory. "It suggests that individuals will base their actions on how they like to see themselves and how they like to be seen by others. Therefore, the role-identity requires two components, specifically, the role itself and the identity to be associated with that role. Identity theory is rooted in the concept of roles and role-identities. All players who are selected do have their own identity, it may the identity of India, how is neglected as a good player. Komal Chautala displays her 'self identity 'as a daredevil girl from Hariyana. Vidya Sharma who is married, she plays the role of wife, hokey player and daughter in law. Chuck De India is a film made on sports and sports psychology. What is self and what is identity? These are the basic question every player face. Chuck De India offers the answer in simplest manner. Film also deals with social identity theory, social comparison theory. Apart from Mir Ranjan Negi's real life incidence, weThis is an exemplary film made on sports and the psychological issues faced by every player. This film passes the strong message of national integrity, team spirit, self identity and social identity.

When I saw Chak de India at the time of its release in 2007, I felt so impressed & inspired by it especially Shimit Amin's direction that I made it a point to see all of his other directorial works. Nine years later, I saw Chak de India again and it still entertains & inspires. Its strengths are many - the direction, the music, the performances, the suspense, the dialogues and the many funny moments. Shahrukh Khan was refreshingly subtle as an actor and I think good credit for that goes to the director too. The rest of the cast give wonderful support especially all the hockey team girls. Many of them can thank Chak de for turning them into stars overnight. And what a tribute this movie is to the game of hockey! Many girls or boys in India would have got some motivation to join hockey or generally sports for that matter after seeing this movie. I see Chak de as a benchmark against which I compare any other sports movies made in Indian cinema. When I saw Bhaag Milkha Bhaag which felt more "bollywoodish" than a tribute to Milkha Singh, I kept telling myself, 'If only Shimit Amin had directed this...'. I don't see much flaws but there were scenes where one or two states of the county were portrayed in a manner that could have felt offensive to those who hail from there. Such scenes were unnecessary. Yet I say that the makers can be forgiven for this flaw as the movie is otherwise excellent.Verdict - watchable for all ages and one of my all-time favorite Bollywood movies.

***Spoiler's Alert***Storyline: The story of the movie mostly revolves around how a former Indian hockey player who performed badly during his last tournament, finally lead Indian women's hockey team to world cup victory as a coach. He previously in his life failed to score during world cup final which ultimately resulted in Pakistan winning the world cup. He was mostly blamed for the defeat of Indian hockey team and people thought that he was more inclined towards the opponent team mostly because of his religion.The thing to watch is that how he unites an average looking Indian women's hockey team, and instills the feeling of true sportsman spirit and patriotism.Music: Intensity of the music perfectly suited the movie. It was energetic and good to listen to. Cinematography: It's slightly above average, but moments during the match were nicely captured. Acting: Shahrukh Khan was amazing and truly justified his character of Kabir Khan as coach. Other actors who played the roles several players in the Indian women's hockey team also did a fantastic job. It was a consistent performance throughout.Overall it's a must watch movie for both Shahrukh lovers and movie lovers. This movie would definitely lift the Bollywood standards.

The first thing this movie shows us is over excited and unreliable media all around the world. The way they accuse one for match fixing for just shaking hands with the opponent. Another thing this movie tells us is that women are a lot more than we think they are, they are not shadows of men, they are they themselves. In the subcontinent, cricket is given more attention than hockey and football, despite the fact that Pakistan and India have excelled in hockey and ruled the world in this sport for a long long time. This movie is not only an inspiration for players but also for coaches, tells the players that to win something, you first have to work as a team, then comes your technique and all. The movie tells the coaches how to make your team play like a team. "To make a team, you need intentions, not power." This dialog from SRK says it all. And for all hockey/football players, "Don't play against the goalkeeper, play against his mind, the goal will happen itself." The best thing about this movie is that it does not bore you at all, after every 10 minutes or so, there is always some sort of twist. Shah Rukh Khan won Filmfare for best actor for his performance in this film, and deserving as well. The actors playing the characters of the players did brilliant in terms of acting, especially the actor playing Komal. For a huge Hockey fan like me, this is an inspirational story of how to come back strong even after your career is over..