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Review - CHAKDE! INDIA: Exhilarating!
Quick Review
![[Poster for CHAKDE! INDIA]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4116436129_3963a5d4e5_m.jpg)
I am the target audience for this movie. Like many Indians, (as appropriately depicted in the movie) I am a run-a-minute person. So, any game that claims to be "exciting" when the final score is 1-0, interests me only so much. Top it off with a "Shah Rukh Khan is over-rated" attitude. You know the makers have played their cards right, if a person with such tastes was hooked to the movie through its entire length. Though the credit mainly goes to the sharp and focused writing, the casting needs special mention too. But that will have to wait...
This is Jaideep Sahni's movie all the way. The little unexpected things in the script make all the difference in an otherwise ordinary plot. In a movie about underdogs trying to achieve the impossible, you pretty much know where the story is going. It's the "how" you get there that counts and CHAKDE! INDIA scores (all pun intended!) at many levels. The obstacles that the characters encounter on the ride, and how they are overcome, keep you glued with enthusiasm till they reach their destination. And I am really glad they stuck to the hockey team and did not whine too much about the coach and his life.
The rhythmic ups and downs in the story are supported equally well by the crisp, witty dialogues and the you-are-smart-viewers silences. The sub-episodes flow from one into another without being episodic. That the editors did their job well is also demonstrated by this remark I overheard on my way out of the movie, "The good thing about Hindi movies these days is that they are only two hours. 9.30 to 11.30 - nice movie". The movie had actually started at 9. If a movie felt 20% shorter than it was, the editing department has done their job really well.
Oh yeah, casting...the first thing you do to sell an ideology is to get a popular actor on board. But, they went one step further. The whole team is perfectly cast. From the hockey team to the hockey association members - not one of them can be singled out for not fitting into the shoes of the character. It is difficult to say whether the dialogues were written first or the actors were chosen first.
Okay - I loved Shah Rukh Khan's acting! There - I said it. Done. (Believe me - It wasn't remotely as easy for me to write this as it is to read it.) The smirks were conspicuous by their absence; there was only an occasional, unnecessarily long-paused sentence; no romantic lines delivered in half-whispers (thank goodness!); and - get this - no trade-marked raising of hands on the side as if he is waiting for me to hug him. Best of all, he shared the space with the girls without overshadowing them. No-no, it's not only things that he did not do. There are things that he did right too. He was very controlled in emoting frustration, happiness, anger, disbelief. Actually all this made me excuse the occasional "I am the King" attitude (Ray Ban, et al)...ahem...okay...now before I get a divorce notice in the comment space here, let's wrap this up here.
When the entire audience is rooting for a women's hockey team for 150 minutes straight, you know the movie has worked. The movie certainly achieved its aim of drawing attention to our national sport and especially to the plight of the women in this sport. It invoked the national spirit, made us whistle and cheer, clap hard, and laugh out loud. It was almost like we were in a stadium watching an actual game. The question, now, is - are we sensitized enough to do something about the situation? Meanwhile, like Shah Rukh's acting keep your expectations in control and enjoy the show.
- meetu, a part of the audience
CHAKDE! INDIA - Movie Details
- Official Website: Link
- Director: Shimit Amin
- Lead Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Sagarika Ghatge, Chitrashi Rawat, Shilpa Shukla, Vidya Malavade, Tanya Abrol
- Supporting Cast: Anaitha Nair, Aanjjan Srivastav, Shubhi Mehta, Vibha Chibber, Seema Azmi, Nisha Nair, Sandia Furtado, Arya Menon, Masochon Zimik, Kimi Laldawla, Kimberley Miranda, Nichola Sequeira, Raynia Fernandes
- Story: Jaideep Sahni
- Screenplay: Jaideep Sahni
- Dialogues: Jaideep Sahni
- Music Director: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
- Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni
- Running time: 150 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Social, Sports
Comments (36)
Review - CHAKDE! INDIA...
I am not a hockey fan and usually can just about tolerate Shah Rukh Khan. And yet, I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. Brilliant writing by Jaideep Sahni!! ...
posted 3 years ago[...] is all praise for Chakde! India. I loved Shah Rukh Khan’s acting! There - I said it. Done. (Believe me - It wasn’t [...]
posted 3 years ago---> get this - no trade-marked raising of hands on the side as if he is waiting for me to hug him
That comes in every movie of his!! Very good review, will most probably watch this movie. Big Hockey fan btw so will be looking to see if they have made any errors :D
posted 3 years agoThanks Prashanth! That "raising his hands", really gets to me, but I loved the way took a dig on himself in "Main Hoon Na".
Oh, do watch the movie and let us know how accurately the technical details of the actual game were handled. I have a couple questions in that respect too.
posted 3 years agochakde india! is a beautiful film!!!!shah rukh khan has acted really
posted 3 years agowell…specially when india won …how he controlled his tears ..n he showed his hapiness thru his eyes!!
i m really happiiee …and all the girls have worked awesome too …its reallllyy inspiring
and touching story …
A must watch!!! Will be a hit...actually has to be a hit!!!
Songs are good too...give you inspirations...reminds you, that yes - "Hockey is the national game of India and should not be forgotten"
A must watch for every Indian
What I don't understand about the so called critics of
Shah Rukh Khan is either they don't understand what action
is, or they don't have the guts to accept that
he is a brilliant, versatile actor.
It occurs to me time and again that either they are so
jealous that they cannot accept his evergrowing popularity
globally or they don't have the knowledge and understanding
of what is the meaning of a brilliant performance.
I really don't agree with this reviewer about what he wrote
about shah rukh khan.
((eg: "trade-marked raising of hands on the side
as if he is waiting for me to hug him etc.)).
Even though he maintains that he liked shah rukh in Chak De,
posted 3 years agohis comments about him are not appropriate.
If Shahrukh has really managed to keep his superstar mannerisms locked away I am willing to
posted 3 years agoforgive all that happened in the past few years and go back to including him in my list of
watchable actors! Must admit.. he looks good in the promos .... thank goodness the college boy
has grown up finally.
By the by Meeta .. I loved this review ...it flows real easy...
posted 3 years agoits a pity that kaafila is ignored completely in front of srk's cdi.can u giv me an appropriate reason for this.its a pity state for sunny deol film
posted 3 years agochak de is not only a film, it is a tribute to our forgotten national sports as well as negligence of women. srk is as usual brilliant and his eyes say what ever is needed to say. sure shot the best sports movie ever made by bollywood, no masla like(jo jita wahi..),
posted 3 years agoand please give me a break it was far better than lagaan, its more daring and should be a worth watch for an indian, at least for the sake of 60 th anniversary of independence. so go watch the most brilliant script on sports, and best acting of srk till date.
Good review ! I haven't seen this yet, but look forward to. Everyone gives this one a thumbs-up and SRK acts ? Makes it a must-watch.
posted 3 years agoI loved this film ..It was one of the best films for SRK ..Hats of to the director for giving a good film
posted 3 years agoKAMYA, praveen and krishna, thanks for your feedback.
Pratima, has there been an actor/director/artist whose work you have never really liked, but suddenly one movie and that person surprises you. Well, for me Shar Rukh Khan (SRK) is one such person and he has surprised me in Chakde!. Die-hard SRK fans should be ecstatic that even people who have not liked him, have liked him here.
Thanks Deepa. Yeah, it is awesome that we have one more person in the industry who can perform despite having the "star" tag attached to his name.
Rocky, what can I say...wrong timing? :)
Thanks Amodini! Looking forward to your review.
posted 3 years agoITS A MUST WATCH MOVIE>............
posted 3 years agothe cast is simply superb .
v all went on a team n cheering the cast ..
PLZ PLZ WATCH " CHAKDE!INDIA"
IF U DONT WATCH THIS MOVIE U R REALY GONA MISS SOMETHING...
besides the director, etc etc, due credit to the supporting cast who despite being actual hockey players (some of them atleast) did an awesome job at acting...
posted 3 years agoEveryone should see this movie.....after a long time SRK did gud work...
posted 3 years agoShahrukh we are proud of you for giving a very good movie after a long time after kkhh.I wish you all the best for your future.
posted 3 years agoYa its very nice movie . shahrukh sir is fantastic in d movie.
posted 3 years agoi lov movies of srk. In movie a nice combination of patriotism &
sports is made.
Good Review and Good movie...here is our take on the movie...
posted 3 years agohttp://www.showmethecurry.com/2007/08/27/chak-de-india-bollywood-movie-review/
Enjoy!
nice movie with a different story..great piece of acting by mr.SRK n all the hockey team girls
posted 3 years agowho shows their talent to the country...atlast great.....
one of the best film ever made in india. well about shahrukh i would just like to say --
its shahrukh 'chak de india',without him just don't even dare to think about this film.
even if you had not liked shahrukh uptill now still you wouldn't be able to stop yourself
while clapping and appreciating him on his perfomance, hee is just 'the best'. watch the
movie if you like to do something good in your life.
posted 3 years agoChak De is a great work of tight and crisp screenplay, bound story, correct dialogues, right performances and above all a very very focussed direction. Shimit knows what he is making within the given set of tools. And yes do I need to say something about SRK? How brilliantly he has perfoamed need not have any judgement. He was par excellence. Coupled with the other girls and all the other cast act brilliantly under Shimit's direction. A must must watch for the spirit of womanhood and definitely for SRK. Five on Five.
posted 3 years agoA must movie to be seen by Indian Cricket Team, ICC.
Nice to Watch with groups & collegeous.
posted 2 years, 12 months agoExellent Music..!! The Best Song from this movie is "MAULA MERE LE LE MERI JAAN"
posted 2 years, 11 months agoI love Your Music Salim-sulaiman maula bapa is always with you...Aameen.
on sept 5 as a part of our teachers day program our 12thies
posted 2 years, 11 months agodemanded to watch chak de india..........and u wont beleive
it was an amazing experience that we had.....watching the movie
together with our teachers and friends.......we used to clap and shout
when the scenes which evoked our patriotic feelings used to come
I just want to thank the directors for directing such an amazing
movies ......HATS OFF to those whose hard work we could see through this film.
chakde india is the best bollywood movie I ever saw!
posted 2 years, 11 months agoI really like the way of shahrukh how he represents the feelings of a sports person in his acting.
posted 2 years, 11 months agoA movie which must be seen by all of us.
posted 2 years, 10 months agoi really like this movie.
Really a great movie without even a single so called "necessary love songs". Other film persons shd learn from it's popularity who stuff their movies with unreasonable love and violence in the name of demand.
posted 2 years, 9 months agoI like chak de India movie bcoz I love shahrukh khan and his acting. I love all his movies. there is not a single movie that I didn't like. I love shahrukh alot
posted 2 years, 8 months agojust fabulous
posted 2 years, 8 months agothe film featured right people
posted 2 years, 7 months agofrom srk in the laed till all the negative charachters (federation members) deserve an award
hi.this movie is very nice .all have to see this movie because it teaches unity
posted 2 years, 7 months agoI don't know whether this is the right time for me to post some comments regarding the movie Chak de India, but i,certainly, do know if i don't write anything about this movie then i shall be a culprit of myself.
The movie has filled my heart with a sense of enthusiasm and a feeling to not to believe the word 'impossible'. I like to thank the entire crew for making this movie.
The key component , without any question, is ShahRukh Khan (And, i don't know why Meeta ji is so skeptic of accepting SRK as the King Khan) Everyone will agree with me when i say SRK wasn't acting at all. His every emotions, movements were as smooth as silk and had that natural touch which looked more like a reality than the acting.
The group of girls has certainly done laudable job.
The entire recipe that this movie has presented to audience like us tastes scrumptious
posted 2 years, 7 months agohey shahrukh i love u.de movie was gr8.i love seein it again nd again.srk is simply superb
posted 2 years, 4 months agoThis movie is one of the best movies I have ever seen.Shahrukh Khan really rocks!!
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