A motivating, sporty, intelligent endeavor of Yash Raj banners and direction by Shimit Amin has made ‘Chak De India’
one of the the biggest blockbuster’s of Bollywood cinema of 2007.
On top of it, ‘Chak De India’ has no love angle even though it has Shah Rukh Khan playing the leading man alongside 16 new girls. Despite so many odds, ‘Chak De India’ turns out to be a riveting film.
Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh), the best center forward in Indian hockey team, misses the crucial, last minute penalty stroke against Pakistan and is blamed for the Indian team’s defeat in the finals. So much so, his own fellow countrymen call that he a betrayer. Disgraced and dishonored for one momentary failure, Kabir Khan leaves his parental house with his mother and disappears into oblivion.
Seven years later he appears again, not as a player but as a coach of a bunch of girls in whom even the Hockey Federation has no confidence. Kabir Khan has just three months to coach and train these girls for the Hockey
World Cup in Australia.
The girls come from all over India – Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, North East and other states.
On the outside, Kabir Khan is very strict with the girls. Through his toughness he wants to instill discipline and integrity in the team, something that is significantly missing. Within the team, there is hardly any camaraderie. There are usual girlie fights and arguments.
Somebody is egoistic, somebody too self-centered, somebody is hot-tempered and somebody is simply naïve.
Using very unconventional methods, Kabir Khan manages to create a team spirit among the girls. But some differences remain, only to be sorted out in the World Cup tournament in Australia, which the team must win to make India proud. But Kabir Khan is fighting for more than pride for India. For him the victory would bring redemption (for his momentary failure 7 years ago) and reclamation of his lost honour. And when that moment of reckoning does come, he looks on with disbelief in his teary eyes.
Shah Rukh Khan has proved his mettle in the industry after a number of flops and the 16 girls have made a special name for themselves in the industry and the world.
The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, even though it is a sports-based film and not a thriller.