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Chak De-India (2007)
A highly spirited thrilling ride.
“The next 70 minutes are yours. Not even God can take it away from you. Go get them”. As Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) gives the speech to its hockey team, you feel the moment with him. As if you are standing in that locker room and you are going to play that hockey match with the rest of the crew. This feeling will follow you on a fantastic ride called as Chak De-INDIA. This is not a story of champions. This is not a story of freedom. This is not a story of strength to win. This is not a story of extraordinary people who fight against out numbered enemies. But this is a story of gaining high spirits among individuals who come together and achieve something they never knew how to.
Kabir Khan is a newly appointed coach of Indian women’s hockey team who are prepaing themselves for upcoming World Cup championship. The hurdles for the coach are not just to bring the team together and train and teach what they exactly need to, but also to answer to the criticism from his fans about his missed stroke when he played in Men’s hockey finals. Not to mention his fight against himself about that lost game. As the team is introduced at the signup desk, the women from every corner of India make you laugh and curious. They can be wearing a bully’s attitude, I-am-so-hot attitude or just plain simple girls lived under the shadow of the family. But they have one thing in common. The passion and talent for the game. They can make friends or enemies among themselves, even though they are in the same team, but the journey ahead towards the final glory is extraordinary.
There was a movie. Ab Tak Chhappan, (2004) that shook so many audiences and critics. Shimit Amin, the same director, now handled Chak De, and surprisingly his knife feels as sharp as his last cut in 2004. The whole tone and attitude of excitement, pain, zyst and glory is so unbelievable that it feels as if Bollywood is waking up and breathing. The expressions on each player’s face are captured magnificently and straight to the core. Jaideep Sahani, the writer who previously wrote Ram Gopal Verma’s gangster thriller Company (2002) does a memorable comeback with Chak De. I mean the MacDonald’s scene, the coach’s speech, the final goal and the diligence of keeping away from any cheesy dialogues just makes me say one word. WOW!Thank You Aditya Chopra for bringing this team together.
Now definitely Shah Rukh Khan has to be mentioned here. He is not the usual, mindless college boy who whines over some troubled relationships just to shake those faint hearted who worship him. He is a tough and determined hockey player who knows what he is talking about. With a rough stubble and Ray Ban aviator sunglasses he makes his appearance felt. No cliches, just passion.
Well, the hockey team is rather something to watch, than to read right here. So just go ahead and walk in to this locker room and listen to the coach and chat with these passionate women.
My rating: 9/10.
9 Responses to “Chak De-India (2007)”
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chak de is little better than average. there was an article on PFC about CKI being mother of all cliches but still works. I think, we best keep it to that. if it earns 9 out of 10, then I guess RDB, Lagaan, swades, etc which are little better than CKI will get 10 out of 10.
Hmmm…lots has been discussed about CDI..
my $0.02..
CDI India is a HIT..no two thoughts on it.
Many People(like the author here) loved it..true again..
but for me, CDI represents EXACTLY what is wrong with our film industry today
When i see people branding CDI as a ‘Cult’ movie it hurts..if CDI is cult, then my understaning of the term ‘cult’ is wrong
When i see people praising CDI as a ‘Well Researched’ film it hurts..
as using terms like ‘trap, ‘push’, ’shot’, ‘man to man marking’ cannot go as good research.
It hurts presicesley because genuninely researched movies like ‘Sehar’ get lost in the crowd.
coming to cliches and faults in CDI..there were many
1. SRK declraing at the very begining that ‘mujhe yahi team chahiye WC jitane ke liye’..and u know that come wat may..india is going to win :)
2. SRK’s dialgoue that ‘Hockey main chakke nahi hote’ ..when i heard it for the first time i thought..OMG..this cant be true..i mean, this is so B Gradish..
3. The whole hooplah about Man to Man marking as if only that team ( spain or whichever team it was) knew it and only one player from our team knew how to tackle it.
4. The ego problem between komal and pretty..why was the coach waiting till the final to sort it out..as if he knew all along that inspite of that problem..india would reach the finals..
5. What took the cake was chants of ‘kabir khan..bharat ki shaan’ at then end..that was too much..in a country like india..we may win the world cup/olympics or whatever..let alone chanting the name of the coach..hardly anyone knows the name of the coach..a couple of players only are known faces
I can go on and on, but as i said this is my personal opinion and unlike me..many people loved the movie, and i respect their views as well.
I havent yet started on how SRK played Kabir khan..his stubble, Ray ban’s and speeches..as that would be a post in itself..
but if we watch CDI just as a sports film also, it falls way way behind Hollywood B grade stuff like ‘wimbledon’, ‘goal’etc ..let alone the good sports movies.
Regards,
The PerfectMisfit
@PerfectMisfit
:d/ :d/
would love to see your post about CDI in project iview :d
@PerfectMisfit: Cooool..
When everyone say sharukh’s performance is A-grade, it hurts as well..
What is great about the story, apart from all those already stated is that for the first time a True Indian sports story was filmed “earnestly” and it was as moving and inspirational as “remember the titans” so i hope the trend continues and we here more about unsung Indian heroes
Kudos to Anuraag Kashyap. This is Neeraj Rathore your junior at our school, All the best and keep up the best work
I guess this movie can be a far distant cousin to “A league of their own” where Tom Hanks plays a washed out alcoholic coach to a women’s baseball team. IMHO “Chak De” is so-so. It is definitely a good start moving away from steroe type movies but Indian film industry ( I will never call it Bollywood- it is derogatory) has a long way to go before it can produce a “Rememeber the titans” or ” Bull Durham”.
The story lacks the punch, SRK was passable, I think the girls did a terrific job acting (a bunch of no names), editing and camera jobs leaves a lot to be desired. Thankfully there is no melodrama.
I am thinking it was a low budget movie because main stream Indian movies are using pretty good equipment and the results are on par with the rest of the world.
My 2 paisa worth guys, take it with a grain of salt and excuse my ignorance if you notice any.
@PerfectMisfit
Brother, there is something called magic realism(GG Marquez genre and Bollywood genre even Hollywood Genre). A life beyond the mundane life, a moment that may not happen in our misfit world but if captured in pages of a nice book or in celluloid, we may become enchanted.
CDI does that enchantment…why not to relish it?
Reagards,
(Your KUMB-MELA me bichre bhai)
Cubicle Bound Misfit
Thanks Om, Parth..
i thought i would write about CDI..but the topic was so beaten to death, that i then stopped thinking about it..and lo and behold..along came this post..and got me thinking again :)..may be i will write a post on random thoughts on CDI, No smoking, Sehar etc..
@Cubicle Bound Misfit (aka mere bichde hue bhaaaai) :)
I am all for magic realism, mushy mushy happiness and stuff, belive me i literally die over the movies of that school of thought. I cherish David Dhawan movies as much as say a No Smoking or Black friday..But it is movies like CDI ( The’sheeps under the skin of lions’ ), that hurt me..I enjoy the movie no doubts, but CULT?? Well researched???..come’ on Bhai..gimme a break :)