August 10 , 2007

Chak De! India

My Rating : ****

I still remember the day on which I watched the movie – 'Iqbal' at the Prasads multiplex in Hyderabad. There was only one show running and almost 40% of the theatre was empty on the third day of it's release. I was highly impressed with the movie and had the feeling that I might have to wait for a long long time before I get to watch a movie of that quality. Today, I am happy for the fact that it took only 23 months and 14 days be proved wrong.

This is a movie about a sincere and highly passionate hockey player, cheated by destiny, suspected by the whole country for treachery, who hits back really hard by coaching a team of raw, unmotivated and self-centered girls and making them win the Hockey world cup for India despite all odds. Though the story line of this movie is wafer thin, the enthralling screenplay, backed up by some riveting performances and excellent technical values make the film an instant winner with the crowds.

Coming to the performances, Shahrukh Khan is extraordinary as Kabir Khan. For a change, Shahrukh plays an austere character with the same ease that he does a Rahul or a Raj. This performance is a silent, yet powerful answer from SRK for all those critics who let their tongues dance at will. He excels in this power-packed role that has been long due from him. This role of Shahrukh will remain fresh for long in the hearts of his fans and all movie lovers and will stand on par with all the characters of the stature of Debraj Sahai in 'Black' or Bhuvan in 'Lagaan' or Iqbal in 'Iqbal'. Everything regarding SRK was perfect in the film. The body language speak volumes of his acting prowess that remained subdued for a long time. SRK looks stunning in the costumes designed by Shiraz Siddique. It is a visual treat for his fans.

Saving the Captain, the casting of the hockey team is near perfection . Each of the girl's character has been clearly demarcated and established. One tends to get the doubt if the girls have played some hockey in real life before actually acting in the movie. Vidya Malavade, who plays Vidya Sharma, the captain, does not seem to fit the role very well. She does not seem to fit into the role of a goalie and does not show enough energy that a captain usually is required to. You also tend to feel that the character of the captain is a little under established. Among the girls, Shilpa Shukla as Bindia Naik and Chitrashi Rawat as Komal Chautala steal the show.

Jaideep Sahni has once again proved his mettle and has done a commendable job with the screenplay and dialogues. The dialogues are neat, crisp and carry the right dose of intensity. The screen play perfectly fits the bill and I cannot recollect any particular scene which should not have been included in the final cut. The beauty of the script is that the dialogues were substituted by action and gestures in many important scenes and the writer has been highly successful in his experiment.

It is not easy for a director to shift from a movie like 'Ab Tak Chappan' to a completely different and less-trodden genre movie like Chak De India especially when you have a star of the stature of SRK acting in the movie. But Shimit Amin pulls off this herculean task with considerable ease. The vast experience of working in various departments of film making all over the world must have helped him a lot to pull off this technically superlative movie. The cinematography of the movie is top class. Digital Intermediate work and SFX have been used to perfection. In recent times, the excessive use of DI has made many movies look either too bright or stripped off of colours. But the DI work in this movie provides the required balance for the visuals.

The background score and music helped a lot in setting up the mood of each scene and creating the right emotions. All the songs in the movie come as background song and do not impede the pace of the movie. The production values of Yash Raj Films are excellent. Generally a film featuring sports would have been made in a much smaller budget than this, but YRF did not have any inhibitions in spending money where ever required. The 1500 cans of negative used in shooting the film proudly definitely speaks of commitment shown by the producer and the director. The only thing that YRF could have done better is they could have done better and effective publicity and released it in more theatres.

As a movie lover, I sincerely hope that this movie proves to be the dawn of a new era of Indian films on par with world cinema in terms of content and quality. The future of Indian cinema seems to be in able hands and with entities like YRF backing them up, there is no looking back.

There are 164 reasons why you need to watch Chak De! Go for it without further contemplation. Period.

Syam Krishna
syamkrishna.k@gmail.com

More My Movie experiences:
AMAV by Darsakudu
5 in March by Sashidhar
Okkadunnadu by Anand
Black Friday by Ratnakar
Desamuduru by Krishna Prasad
Guru by It's opinion
Dhoom 2 by Lalitha Spoorthi
Dhoom 2 by ASK
Don - Syam
Boss - Anand
Boss - Hrithik
Stalin - Bala
Bommarillu - Nandini
Bommarillu - Darsakudu
Bommarillu - Vasu
Bommarillu - Harsha Prakash
Bommarillu - Lalitha Spoorthi
LRMB - Shravan
Bommarillu - Anirudh
LRMB - Srinivas
LRMB - Darsakudu
LRMB - S Sridhar
Bommarillu - Shridevi
Bommarillu - Vasudev
Bommarillu - Roopa
Sriram - Godavari
Sarath - Bangaram
Bala - Pokiri
Srinadh - Allari Pidugu
Sudheer Allari Pidugu
Anu - Athadu
Shyam Krishna - Iqbal
Purnesh - Grahanam
Sudhindra - Super
Vijay - Aparichitudu
Madhav - Aparichitudu
Hazaraon Kwaishein Aisi
Swades
Shyam - Black
Sai - Anand
Rohit - Anand & Veer Zaara
Jaya Prakash - 7GBC
Raj - Anand
Purnesh - Anand
Purnesh - The Village
Sriram - Gudumba Shankar
Purnesh - Gharshana
Purnesh - Lakshya
Purnesh - Yuva
Leenesh - Yuva
Kis - Lakshmi Narasimha
Indian Pride - Tagore
Raj - Boys
Phani - Gangotri
Phani - Khadgam
Vikram - CKR
BKR - Indra (Singapore)
Ram - Indra (Dubai)
Ranjeet - Idiot
Rahul - Indra
King Koduri - Indra
Srilakshmi Katragadda - Mitr: My Friend