27 votes
Star Cast
Chak De India
- Kabir Khan
- Vidya Sharma
- Balbir Kaur
- Komal Chautala
- Gul Iqbal
- Rani Dispotta
- Soimoi Kerketa
- Nethra Reddy
- Molly Zimik
- Mary Ralte
+ More
Plot
Chak De India
Kabir Khan lives a middle-class way of life along with his widowed mom in Delhi, India, and is the Captain of the Indian men's hockey team. He fails to score at the last tournament resulting in Pakistan winning the World Cup amidst allegations that he was more inclined toward his opponents due to his religion. Kabir and his mom move away and virtually disappear for seven years. There after Kabir surfaces to be a Coach for the women's hockey team, consisting of 16 players from all over India, some of who do not communicate well.
Kabir's disciplinarian style ends up offending the players, lead by the militant Bindia Naik, who decide not to participate unless he resigns amidst allegations that he is having an affair with soon to-be married Vidya Sharma, who he appoints as the new Captain. Things change after a brawl with eve-teasers at the local McDonald's, the girls accept Kabir, however, the Chair of the Indian Women Hockey Association, Tripathi, decides to pull out of the World Cup but decides to give them a shot after Kabir challenges the men's team.
The women lose by a goal but their performance compels the Association to revise their decision and dispatch them to Melbourne, Australia. In the very first match against six-time winning team of Australia, the Indian team lose 7-0 to, but manage to struggle back to the semi-finals after defeating Great Britain, Argentina, and Korea. On the eve of the final match Kabir will meet secretly with two rival players, Preety Sabharwal (who is engaged to be married to Cricket Team Captain, Abhimanyu Singh), and Komal Chautala, and during this meeting he will tell them that two of his hockey players will be playing for the Australians. Watch what impact this has on both Preety and Komal.
Chak De India
Maxabout Review
An engrossing fare. ..
Thursday, September 06, 2007After the huge success of Chak de India, the word chak de is no longer confined to the Punjabi language and now is prevailing on the lips of every Indian ignoring the state factor just like the movie says.
The Yash Raj - SRK combo is back. No lush green fields here. No running around trees either. No chiffon sarees to make the ladies look their best. No melodrama, no parental opposition, no lovers defying their parents. CHAK DE INDIA, directed by Shmit Amin, charters a new territory.
A country where cricket rules people emotions, Chak de has proved to get back the respect for the national game. The people have given a warm response to the movie mainly because of its inspiring theme. Everyone wants one's country to do well in every sphere including sports. The film is about the rise of Indian women's hockey to the pinnacle of glory in the world. It does stir a sentimental chord in the hearts of hockey enthusiasts who have been thoroughly disappointed because of the double standards on women’s game promotion.
Shah Rukh plays Kabir Khan, a disgraced hockey player and he has justified the role amazingly. The film is based on events surrounding former Indi¬an g
oalkeeper Mir Ranjan Negi's life. Negi's team lost to Pakistan 7-1 in 1982.From this fall from grace, he rose to reclaim glory two decades later as coach of the Indian women's national hockey team in 2002. Negi in real life, and Shah Rukh in the reel life, have a formidable task. The girls are a rag-tag bunch of losers who play for their own selfish reasons more initially. The coach moulds them into a fighting unit with eyes set on being the world champions.
The idea of getting different girls from different regions of India was very refreshing. It not only brought humour to the whole script but also raised questions on how these people are treated in their own countries. It gives out the message to not underestimate our own languages and culture. They hold rich treasures that are for us to unravel. Languages don't easily pass each other's secrets. Each one of them has its own nuances. Of late, however, it will be seen that they are not averse to adopting one another's strengths. This helps them not only to enrich their vocabulary but also gain wider acceptability. It also deals with the crucial subject of women jealousy but when it is the question of their self respect and dignity it becomes remarkable how they stand for each other. All the sixteen girls acted well. The Punjabi accent, the jharkhand ho and the haryanvi buffalo jokes were surely making the atmosphere light and more to look forward too.
Cinematography is first-rate. Music is strictly okay. Dialogues are interesting. A few lines are indeed amazing. Editing could've been tighter.
There have been some films revolving around cricket and football, but none with hockey as a theme, or even a passing reference. This is another irony, considering that hockey has as much, if not more, of the macho element required to popularize the game.
SRK is the soul of CHAK DE INDIA. What you see on screen would be half of what it is without this matchless actor. He makes you feel what you are supposed to feel. A performance that's sure to go down as one of his finest works so far. The girls are excellent and a few of them register a strong impact, especially
Vidya Malvade.
Chak De India definitely had given a much-needed boost to Indian hockey, given the fact that it is going through one of its darkest phases. Literally "chak de" means to lift something and the movie proved to lift our spirits.
Goofs
Chak De India
- Factual errors: The word 'Gaddaar' (traitor) written with simple coal on front wall of kabir Khan's house remains intact, even after more than seven years.
- Continuity: When Kabir Khan takes his crew to give a farewell lunch, they end up fighting with a group of anti-social elements, in the fiasco one of the girl pushes a guy off the bar and he falls on a car breaking its windshield. Later on in a long shot at the end of the scene, one can see the car intact.
- Revealing mistakes: The day and time in Aaj Tak Tv News is always "Tuesday 10:59", even during the next day's riots.
- Continuity: When Komal Chautala arrives, she is seen playing hockey with the boys. In one shot they are shown swerving their hockey stick around a man and she hits the ball. In the next shot the ball breaks a mirror on the driver's side of the car and the same man is sitting on the driver's side of the car.
Taglines
Chak De India
- Jo nahin ho sakta hai, wahi to karna hai...
- Mujhe sirf ek mulk ka naam sunaai deta hai - India
Trivia
Chak De India
- The title literally translates into "Come on, India!"
- The writer Jaideep Sahni got the idea for the script when he was flicking through a newspaper and a small story about a women's hockey team caught his eye.
- This sparked a national resurgence of interest in the sport. Within days of the film's appearance, sales of hockey sticks shot up by 30%.
- Shahrukh Khan grew a beard in order to look more fit for a Muslim.
- The girls in the cast were trained in a 3-4 month hockey camp so that the game play doesn't look artificial in the movie.
Quotes
Chak De India
No quotes found.
Awards
Chak De India
- Apsara Award
Event: Apsara Film Producers Guild Awards
Result: Won
Category: Best Editing
Recipient(s): Amitabh Shukla - Popular Award
Event: Awards of the International Indian Film Academy
Result: Won
Category: Best Story
Recipient(s): Jaideep Sahni - Popular Award
Event: Awards of the International Indian Film Academy
Result: Won
Category: Best Director
Recipient(s): Shimit Amin - Popular Award
Event: Awards of the International Indian Film Academy
Result: Won
Category: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Recipient(s): Shahrukh Khan - Filmfare Awards
Event: Filmfare Awards
Result: Won
Category: Best Action
Recipient(s): Robert Miller - Screen
Event: Screen Weekly Awards
Result: Won
Category: Best Editing
Recipient(s): Amitabh Shukla