Friday, August 17, 2007

Movie Review: Chak De

Chak De is one of those beautiful movies that comes once in a blue moon, and becomes an instant all-time favourite.

SRK plays Kabir Khan, a disgraced Indian hockey team captain, who takes it upon himself to groom the Indian women's hockey team into World Champs. Reportedly based on the true story of Mir Negi, the movie traces the maturing of a motley group of girls, brought together from the far corners of the country, and given up for losers even before their first practice session, under relentless efforts of Kabir Khan.

The girls, most of them non-stars, bring an amazing freshness to the movie - newcomer Sagarika Ghatge (as Preeti Sabharwal) is hot, leggy and sexy, Shilpa Shukla (as Bindia Naik) puts in an amazing performance as the stubborn, spoilt and sidelined senior in the team, and others like Vidya Malvade (as Vidya Sharma), Anaitha Nair (as Aliya Bose), Tanya Abrol (as Balbir Kaur) and Chitrashi Rawat (as Komal Chautala) bring their own strong contributions to a movie where the King Khan, frankly, is almost non-relevant!

Their interactions, their squabbles, politics, one-upmanship, thrills, their joy, their struggles, and yes, the beautiful moment when they turn up in Indian sarees for the pre-final reception - you can easily watch the movie a couple of times, and enjoy every moment of it...

From the point of view of a purely academic case study though, I was a little disappointed by the script. Kabir is a passive leader, and while he is relentless and persistent in his efforts, I am not sure he handles the team well. Punishing players for the slightest errors, keeping seniors literally out of the coaching camp, not utilizing their experience, not talking to his team... you know, doesn't really inspire you as a team leader!

But leave the academics aside, and go enjoy Chak De - and be proud to be Indian!

No comments: