Chak De! India (2007)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

I wanted to but couldn't!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

While watching, I didn't know if this story was based on real events or not but the question was answered once I came to this board. That's okay, I think any film that can inspire to achieve one's best and shoot for an impossible goal is always worthwhile. Not knowing the Indian culture, I was kind of shocked by the attitude of the members of the 'Association' sponsoring the women's hockey team. You would think this was 1807 or 1907 instead of 2007 when the movie was made. That alone would have been enough to fire up the ragtag team of players from India's far flung states, but first, Coach Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) would have to see his way through an entire gamut of individual dynamics in order for his players to come together as a team. The McDonald's incident was the catalyst, and from there, Khan's deft handling of each player's personal issues was the key to making his team gel as winners. Other reviewers making comments here point to "The Miracle" as the basis for this film's story line. Oddly, I've never seen that movie yet, which is something I'll have to correct in due course. Given that this picture is quite formulaic in execution, there's still something to be said for it's positive message and pride in a national identity.

Chuck De India is a sports film based on real life incidence. Mir Ranjan Negi, Indian hokey player of inspired Shah Rukh Khan's role in "Chak De! India". Mir Ranjan Negi returned to be the coach of the India women's national field hockey team. The team won the Gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He was also the assistant coach for the Women's team when it won the Gold at the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup.After reading news in press, screenwriter Jaideep Sahani got inspired to write a script of this film. The script focuses on hokey as a game, cultural diversity, women empowerment, new age family system and national integrity. Jaideep Sahani also stated in another interview with NDTV.com that, "the script was conceived before he met Negi, after reading the script he started crying. He said it had happened to me also."Uniqueness of this film is Mir Ranjan Negi personally trained these girls for this film. This film is beyond the documentary of Mir Ranjan Negi. It helped to handle the aspect of sports psychology. Journalist Anand Philar stated, "He had covered Asian Games final. The game tossed goalkeeper Negi's life upside down. Negi was criticized by media; headlines cried: he is a 'traitor." Anand Philar took Negi's interview, Negi's stated, "Everywhere I went, I was abused by the public. Nothing matters to me more than playing for my country. I am a proud Indian and will always be so. Former captain Zafar Iqbal expressed, "The entire team was to blame; we forwards missed chances, the defense had huge gaps that the Pakistanis exploited. After many years Negi returned to train Indian women hokey team. His India women's national field hockey team won the 2002 Commonwealth Games.According to sports psychology, 'self and identity' are pivotal parts of personality over 'the body self'. The self is based on felt experiences of the environment. We find different girls form different background, and are reluctant to change. We find the answer in sports psychology, 'the body self' evolves from this constant flow of experience. The body self is defined in unity with the self-concept or the self as personal construction. There are three strategies need to be followed for the social construction of the self image.In country like India, sports like hokey or cricket are attached with national identity. We find the schoolboy jingoism replaces the patriotism. George Orwell called the "lunatic habit of identifying with larger power units, and seeing everything in terms of competitive prestige". Journalist Somini Sengupta wrote an article in The New York Times "Bollywood have been keen observer and welder of the national mood. Journalist Shiv Visvanathan, wrote an article in The Hindu, which explains this sub continental rivalry between India and Pakistan. People from both countries take sports as their national pride. We find more chauvinism than patriotism in their support. Shiv Visvanathan aptly notes, "Chauvinism and patriotism are different terminologies. Chauvinism is a belief that the nation can do no wrong. Patriotism is open-ended; it allows error or vulnerability, it is diversified. It does not condemn. A patriot is loyal to the nation and cosmopolitan in outlook. Patriotic individual need not to wears uniform or get involved in any ritual. As social psychology offer two dominant theory of identity – identity theory (Stryker, 1977; Burke, 1980) and social identity theory (Turner, 1979). George J. McCall, Jerry Laird Simmons explained the roll-identity theory. "It suggests that individuals will base their actions on how they like to see themselves and how they like to be seen by others. Therefore, the role-identity requires two components, specifically, the role itself and the identity to be associated with that role. Identity theory is rooted in the concept of roles and role-identities. All players who are selected do have their own identity, it may the identity of India, how is neglected as a good player. Komal Chautala displays her 'self identity 'as a daredevil girl from Hariyana. Vidya Sharma who is married, she plays the role of wife, hokey player and daughter in law. Chuck De India is a film made on sports and sports psychology. What is self and what is identity? These are the basic question every player face. Chuck De India offers the answer in simplest manner. Film also deals with social identity theory, social comparison theory. Apart from Mir Ranjan Negi's real life incidence, weThis is an exemplary film made on sports and the psychological issues faced by every player. This film passes the strong message of national integrity, team spirit, self identity and social identity.

An underdog sports team in need of a serious makeover attempts to win a world championship--you've seen it before, and you can probably guess how it ends, but the production qualities are excellent, Bollywood idol Shahrukh Khan plays the coach with immense sensitivity and charm, and the group of young women who make up the team are a wonderful cross-section of the vast country that is India.This is a national pride film, a film that makes the viewer cheer more than once, and perhaps will even bring some tears; like most Bollywood films, it is inordinately long for those accustomed to two hour movies, but unlike many Bollywood romances, there are no curious musical numbers that to Western eyes often interrupt the logical progression of plot. If you are into sports films with a Boffo Finish, looking for a perfect film for most young women with ambition, or merely a cross-cultural adventure, this is great fun.

Shahrukh Khan stars in "ChakDe! India" as a former Indian national hockey player and someone, in his own words, who wants to defeat the reason why he lost out in his own career by this time coaching the Indian women's hockey team to world cup glory. For him, it's all about believing that you can win, and he makes this clear quite often.Equal opportunities in sport (something we all take for granted), religion, self-belief and teamwork are themes central to "ChakDe! India" have been cleverly handled by director Shimit Amin.Shahrukh's performance is brilliant; one can totally understand why he won filmfare best actor for this. Out of the team of girls, the performances that stand out are those by Shilpa Shukla (as Bindia), Sagarika Ghatge (as Preeti), Chitrashi Rawal (as Komal) and Tanya Abrol (as Balbir). Director Shimit Amin has done a good job with this. He clearly is a very talented director and this is evident in every frame of the movie.The screenplay works great and the cinematography is brilliant. From the soundtrack, "Chak De India" is the most memorable song and is probably the best song from the list.Verdict: A national award winning sports masterpiece from Yash Raj Films that should not be missed!! I give it 9/10.