Chak De India Movie Review

While we continue to go into ecstasy over cricket we hardly seem to realize that hockey is the true-blue Indian game. Chak De India aims at giving the dying game the respect it deserves.

As far as the success of the movie is concerned a lot is at stake. Sport is not a very successful genre in Bollywood, most sport based movies have failed miserably at the box office. The only exception being Aamir Khan’s oscar nominated Lagaan. Also the last two Yash Raj Films, Ta Ra Rum Pum and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom disapponted.

So with a lot at stake the Yashraj – SRK combo deliver and deliver big time.

Chak De India directed by Shimit Amin (Ab Tak Chapan) and produced by Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films) is about an ex Indian Hockey team captain?s return as the Coach to the Indian Women?s National Hockey team and his fight in making team India a strong and indomitable team.

Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) is a man who overcomes the problems in life without being skeptical and disturbed. He isn?t an outsider to the game of hockey as he had once led the Indian Hockey team and unfortunately experienced failure and disgrace. He approaches to be the coach of a rag-tag bunch of girls as a challenge to overcome his failure and the obstacles that had once stopped him from taking India to the top league in the field of Hockey.

Kabir?s challenge lied in reshaping a team which in pursuing their personal goals had forgotten what it is like to play as a team. His challenge lied not in training or honing the skills of the team but rather to bring them together as a team and instill the virtue of belief. A belief in realizing that if you want, you can do it! His mantra was ?Jo nahin ho sakta hai, wahi to karna hai.. ” Will he succeed in making his team by overcoming their diverse backgrounds and striking away all the bitterness, by learning to use everything that life hurls on them as a secret weapon?

Director Shimit Amin has taken an interesting leap in style, substance, conceit and stardom. From Nana Patekar an encounter specialist in “Ab Tak Chhappan” to Shah Rukh playing a coach who transforms a team of rag-tag girls into champions.

With a strong screenplay, Shimit’s direction is first rate. He has ensured there isnt even a single dull moment. Every scene makes a impact. Also the feel of the movie is so real that it makes you cheer and pray for the team to win. The background music is brilliant so is the cinematography.

Performances – Shahrukh Khan is the heart and soul of Chak De India. He has just delivered arguably his best performances in his career. It fills your heart with happiness to see the actor in Shahrukh in full form. He portrays the role of Hockey coach with a lot of dignity, intensity and charm. Undoubtedly the best performance of the year.

The team of girls are exceptionally good. Characters of Preethi and Komal stand out.

Watch out for..

  • The introduction scene of the girls to the coach. Brilliant.
  • The lunch at McDonald’s scene.
  • SRK! His acting, expressions, screen presence, dialogue delivery. Just about everything!
  • The climax is so emotional that it leaves you with a tear in your eye

Overall, this is a must watch for every Indian. The performances, the screenplay, the direction are just perfect. You cant ask or expect more. Is there a negative? Yup, the intermission.. It makes you restless!! At the box office, its undoubtedly going to create history.

Rating: ★★★★★

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56 Comments

  • Wonderful!
    I was hoping this got a good review because I really wanted to see it and was hoping for this to be good.
    Finally a great hindi movie for 2007.

  • Just back from the cinema, and rest assured, this is one film the Yashraj should really be proud of. Splendid to see a screenplay as fluid as this, awesome to see a narrative as honest to the subject as this and amazing to see it delivered in such an entertaining format. This is what movies are all about… stories well told.

    The soundtrack doubles the life of the proceedings (the lyrics of the title Sukhvinder track are probably the best ever I have heard in a patrio-almost-jingo-istic), SRK IS Kabir Khan (so believable, so comfortable just being the character and yet managing to add some fantastic nuances and making it his own the way only he can. The guy’s talent is beyond suspect.) and the girls are perfectly cast. The hockey is hooking, the politics within the team and outside the team amongst the authorities is adroitly penned.

    Of the girls, its Shilpa Shukla’s Bindia Naik who goes on to being a rebel who has no qualms in bullying, breaking team-spirit and even propositioning her coach to rising upto the occasion as finally required (the subtle ego-pumping by the coach which turns things out is a very uncliched denouement to the clash and was very welcome!). The dame’s got some balls and wouldn’t budge despite being shown the way out from SRK quite a lot of times. Really, as the nemesis of her own team, the character’s very effective, and I was mighty impressed with the girl, just like I was 3 years back with her amazing performance in 2003’s Khamosh paani.

    Then there’s Chitrashi Rawat as the Bihari Komal… awesome comedy right from the 1st time when you almost mistake her for a young boy to everytime she opens her mouth to spit out chaste Bihari. Her she-doesn’t-pass-the-ball-then-why-should-I duel with Preeti in the team is a fantastically fleshed out one and makes every game right upto its climax a delight.

    There’s something very fantastic about Vidya Malwade’s sex appeal who totally bowled me over in Inteha a few years back. Again, she looks so content playing the girl-of-few-words, sensible, non-confrontational captain… you really vouch for her as the goalie and her team!

    All the other girls were top class too. I felt along with all of them but the triumvirate of the above really stand out.

    The only glitch probably is the SRK’s redemption angle where the drama’s a little too self-conscious and manipulative in a filmy way. But thankfully, its limited to this part of the story and if nothing else will sorta make it more accessible to a wider section of audience. Otherwise the team-coach and intra-team camaraderie is very mature, non-melodramatic and real.

    And what was with the dead-beat commentary by the man who played Rani’s dad in Black in World Championship. Its almost conspcious by its boring presence.

    And the background stories of almost every girl are either heavily clipped or repetitive, but maybe that was meant to show that no matter whatever the population demographic, gender bias in India cuts through all classes. Which is pretty saddening.

    Finally, what matters is when you come out of the cinema, you feel smug of watching something very satisfying. The film is very life-reaffirming, very vital. A genuine sports film very much in the league of Lagaan (I kinda detest Iqbal for its manipulative and clammy tone and it has nowhere as many and as colourful characters as Chak De).

    I knew zilch about hockey as a game when I went into the cinema, and came really entertained and of course, re-enforced with age-old-but-ever-so-essential-values of patriotism and team spirit. It was about time we had movies on sports other than cricket. 3 cheers for everyone involved in this movie… most of all the writer (Jaideep Sahni (this guy is doling out one cherishable film after other this year…1st Khosla Ka Ghosla, now Chak De… am all the more positive now that he’s done a brilliant job in Aaja Nachle) and the director Shimit Amin.

    In all, its amazing to watch such warm, believable, full of life cinema in cynical times like these! Go watch it people!

  • […] is about that only) but when one of my very good friend Ashok (he also writes movie reviews – his review) sent me message saying, the movie is 5 on 5. I was like shocked. I called him and he told me, the […]

  • gr8 movie…nice direction and ofcourse nice act by sharukh khan as always…Even though it was based on hockey team and there is no roamnce still it is big hit of the year…Hats Off To Sharukh Khan and director as well..

    Chak De oh chak De india…..:-)

  • Chak De Chak De Chak De India

    Chak De India rocks. Such a great movie.

    I loved Shahrukh Khan in Chak De India. Such a great actor. He was brilliant in the movie.

    Only Movie review i trust is movie reviews of IndiCine. It is always unbiased.

    Chak De IndiCine

  • wow…all ur reviews wanna make me watch the movie even more! i cant wait to see it! i bet it is splendid from all the recviews i jus read! now i really wanna see it! its about time that 2007 had a good movie! i was really dissapointed in most of the movies released this year..im hopin that this movie will change my thoughts! i cant waittttt to watch it!

  • Since the day it release reading various website to know much more about chak de, Many critics reviews, many user review,interviews and after reading other gossips, I am already excited. and finally got an opportunity to see CHAK DE INDIA,
    MY JOYS BLOW NO BOUND COZ FROM THE FIRST FRAME TILL THE LAST SCENE I GLUED TO MY STICK EYES STUCK TO SCREEN emotions,enthusiasm,patrorism,Fun, laugh and finally tears I feel during that past 2.40 hrs
    Its really a movie whose interest you will realise as you watch it

    Finally if u compare SRK with his past 47 films,u find presence of SHAH RUKH KHAN a star is always there in all his movies BUT in this case All Credot to SHIMIT AMIN he represent not SRK but KABIR KHAN (EX Capt of Indian Hockey Team, coach Indian hockey team) in this movie

    Marvellous excellent and overall fantastic movie

  • CHAK IS A superbbbbbbbbb movie.has broken ol records of 2007….n yeah it gonna bangggg ol the awards of 2007…
    no romance…no bigg starcast…still every1 acted soooo welll …
    seriously must watch for everybody…
    IT ROCKS!!!…

  • Saw this movie yesterday and was very impressed with it. It is much better than most of the crap Hollywood churns out these days. A must see movie for everybody especially hockey players.

  • Hi, all friends

    Chak De India is a nice movie to see, it is a good entertainer and is story of a nation

    (India) and a coach (Shahrukh Khan) , Shahrukhs fight is for getting back his lost

    honour and overcoming the blames imposed on him. Shahrukh is playing the role of

    Kabir Khan who was captain of Indian hockey team, and he has been blamed for

    there defeat in world cup finals with Pakistan, there is no fault at his end but he is

    considered as the person responsible for loosing the world cup finals.
    After seven years of loosing world cup finals Shahrukh has got an opportunity to

    train Indian womens team for world cup.After seven years of loosing world cup finals

    Shahrukh has got an opportunity to train Indian womens team for world cup. He took

    it as an challenge and a golden chance to get back his lost honour. Shahrukh faces

    many troubles in training the team, as firstly he has to make a team and then

    motivating and training the team. The story of the movie is about – How Shahrukh

    makes, trains and motivates the team for hockey world cup and the challenges he

    faces in his way.

    http://desidirectory.com/desi-indian-blogs/

  • Chak De India is awatchout for everyone……..it just leaves you emotional………and as for the characters, they are just superb…..SRK, Sagarika, Chitrashi, Vidya, Shilpa etc. were just amazing…..its an inspiring movie…..!!!!!!!!!!

  • i movie deserved to watchd in the age of cricket…..SRK’s the best perfomance…u never know how a hour & half passes off and ur restless to seenet half.. when u walk out of thetre you have a passionate for game,, motivation to achive the hieghts and u would never fail to use a mantra of SRK,”jo nahin ho sakta, wahin to karna hai”. movie is just to say chak de

  • one of my favorite bollywood movie. being the best movie based on sports in any language in Indian cinema, it surely stands above Lagaan for the smarter direction.

  • a super movie. i hav seen hundred times………
    what movie ,,,,,,,

    hats up sharuk and his team. its a brilliant work by the director. it will change the life and thinking of the people.

    thanx for great movie……

    it just shows how a coal can made into diamond……

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