The Men’s Indian Hockey Captain, Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), finds himself disgraced and despised when not only does he lead his team to defeat against Pakistan, but is wrongfully accused of working with the Pakistani team to help them win. He steps down from hockey altogether, sells his house and goes into seclusion. Seven years later, the Women’s Indian Hockey Team needs a coach, and Kabir steps forward. He has his work cut out, however, when he finds that the women come with their own personal baggage and rivalries- and even the hockey authorities may not fund his new team…
Doug says...
I might be slightly biased, but ever since I watched a film in a Jaipur cinema, and discovered the thrill of watching films with an audience more than ready to cheer and boo along, I’ve always been nothing but supportive of Bollywood.
This proves me right, I’m pleased to say. We’re treated to something along the lines of Bend It Like Beckham, only with the rather gorgeous Shah Rukh Khan as Kabir Khan, a disgraced hockey player, who decides to mend his fortunes by taking on the coaching of the women’s hockey team. It’s a classic tale of the underdog, with even the hockey authorities smirking at the idea of women playing sport at all, and the struggle to get them noticed, and then entered into the world cup feels very real.
It’s a film that wears its 2.5 hour running time well, building up in sections to a pretty nail biting finale. The first half of the film actually deals with the team itself. This is a group of women from all over India, and they very much see themselves as products of their states rather than their country, leading to in-fighting and massive differentiation. Kabir knows from experience that this will weaken their chances, but I found the fact that there wasn’t a quick change from ‘apart’ to ‘together’ to be one of the strongest elements of this film.
In fact, there are no cheap moments. One of the rivalries is established near the beginning and is only really resolved close to the final moments. The realism of such relationships is refreshing, when in Hollywood we often see enemies become friends in the space of a few minutes for plot necessity. Many of the women get their own moment too, including Balbir who has to deal with her anger issues, and Preeti whose famous cricketer boyfriend sneers at her game of ‘stick and ball’.
A lot of things are highlighted here - one being that India prizes cricket far higher than hockey, and that there are a lot of regional prejudices - a player from a place called Jharkhand which I must confess I do not know is considered well beneath many of the players and Kabir has to cajole and force them to get along by turns.
My favourite scene (and I had quite a few) was in McDonalds (!) towards the end of the first half. The women have turned on Kabir as he tries to get them to work together, and he is resigned to his failure. Suddenly in the McDonalds, two of the players are harassed by a couple of ‘lads’ (ugh) who won’t leave them alone. The fierce Balbir turns around and sticks up for them, resulting in a full fist-fight and all the women hurling punches as the ‘lads’ unite. It’s a slapstick and oddly vicious scene, and makes the women finally bonding as a team believable.
Did I enjoy it? Very much. It’s light, but it has points to make, and while it’s not the greatest film ever, I found myself engrossed, particularly in the nail-biting penalty shoot out at the end. A lot of fun, and a real argument for why we should be opening ourselves up to more Bollywood movies in our lives.
Highlight
The penalty shoot out at the end is tense. And I’m saying that as a fully-professed sports-hater.
Lowlight
I can’t really think of much, but it would have been nice to see the rebellious Bindiya’s story completed.
Mark
8/10
Paul says...
“Let’s watch a Bollywood film this time!” we said. “Let’s watch one that is like a flagship Bollywood film to start off with.” Unfortunately, we hit quite a brick wall with this. Not because India is lacking in movies- exactly the opposite, in fact. Bollywood presents an enormous wealth of high-quality filmmaking that surpasses Hollywood, China and European film industries quite easily. Indeed, our dishy leading man in this movie is one of the most successful actors in the world- though I challenge you to find him as a lead in a mainstream Hollywood film. We had incalculable choice, and no idea where to start. So we settled on Chak De! India, which was a huge success on release and promised a stirring tale with some socio-political issues studied.
And it definitely delivers just this. It’s a far from original story of sports underdogs proving themselves in the face of overwhelming opposition. Rocky, Cool Runnings and The Blind Side did pretty much the same story with equally involving effects. But the beauty of Chak De! is that through this tale it makes very emotional statements about sexism and racism in India. The team mates’ personal stories are centred around their rivalry with each other because they are from different Indian states, or the conservative beliefs of their families and partners. But one of Kabir’s earliest lessons to them is that these women do not play for their individual social spheres, but for India as a multi-cultural, progressive and diverse nation. We wanted a film that would not only provide insight into Bollywood (especially for me, as I had never seen a Bollywood film before), but also some insight into Indian culture. Like the recently-released Crazy Rich Asians, Chak De! transports a pretty predictable story into a new setting, and suddenly it feels fresh.
Another great aspect to this film is the way in which the director uses music, camera work and editing to fully relish any emotional moment they possibly can. If you’re not cheering on the team, feeling exasperated with the petty contentions between the team mates, or desperately hoping that Kabir will prove his worth, then you must be dead on the inside. The film proves that subtlety is sometimes a bad path to take. The film’s events are exacerbated by the soaring music and its relentless passion. To ensure this for a full two and a half hours (which is quite long for a sports movie) is quite something.
Interestingly, however, some of the film’s values feel ever so slightly outdated even in the 11 years since it was released. Whilst this is a celebration of women in sport, and the “Chak De girls” as they are called all find their own redemptions and achieve their own victories, I noticed that all of this was due to the leadership and, sometimes, mind games of a man- and it is Kabir’s story that gets by far the most depth. This isn’t really a criticism, the story is still extremely involving. But in the post-Me Too generation, we are seeing more films where women are no longer required to prove themselves to a patriarchal figure. The remake of Ghostbusters, Ocean’s 8 and Black Panther all present women taking on traditionally male roles without anyone batting an eye lid. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but it did strike me that nowadays, such a film would be made with a female coach, and the Women’s Hockey Team would no longer require a male guide to bring them together.
But I shouldn’t be so harsh, because this is a hugely enjoyable, rousing and passionate film that values great story-telling and audience involvement over being “artistic”. Chak De! proves to be a great start for anyone contemplating an exploration into this absolutely huge section of world cinema. It’s also inspired by the true story of the Women’s Hockey victory at the 2002 Commonwealth games- look it up!
Highlight
The final penalty shoot-out. If you bite your nails when you’re nervous, you may need a manicure afterwards.
Lowlight
Doug complimented this scene, but I found the moment when the girls beat up a group of men in McDonald’s to be unnecessarily violent. I get that it’s supposed to be amusing, and that they are proving their solidarity as a team, but when they’re throwing one man onto a car window, or dragging another down the stairs, I did think there is a better way to prove this than Grievous Bodily Harm.
Mark
8/10
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