Chak De!!!
Its been a really long time since I have seen a reasonable hindi movie. I guess the last one was Lage Raho - a brilliantly made movie conveying a great message through comedy. And now after a long time, there's Chak De.
A refreshingly original film and an awesome Shahrukh 'Kabir' Khan. It was a brilliant portrayal of a sideline character taking the center stage (literally and figuratively :-) ). It is nothing short of a paradigm shift in Indian cinema.
Firstly, in a country where cricket is religion, this film is likely to breathe new hope in other sports like hockey . Secondly, socially it is a very matured film, primarily because it portrays women in the lead - strong, determined and ambitious women. It showed that women are capable of helping themselves in trouble. The teasing scene at McDonalds and the fight that followed, was a far cry from the films where a heroine's only hope when confronted with the villain was the gravity defying stunts by the knight in shining armour. Women from different social and cultural background staying together at the camp, helping each other out and finally wining the world cup was very cleverly portrayed while the high and low points in their relationship with themselves and with their coach added spice to the movie. It might also have the desirable effect of reducing the TRP ratings of the product emerging from Ekta Kapoor's stable. Thirdly, the way women refused to succumb to domestic pressure - especially in the case of Vidya and Preeti (whose character seemed to be remarkably similar with Romina Dutta from Lakshya). Fourthly, the Sari. Yes, the sari that was long forgotten by Aishwariya Ria in Cannes and Shilpa Shetty in London, makes a glorious comeback at the reception in Melbourne. Girls like Komal (the little striker) looked really pretty in sari, while Bindia (the ex captain) looked gorgeous as she entered smiling and greeting namaste.
And finally Shahrukh Khan. His performance in this movie is probably the best and most authentic till date. Though it had the touch of previous characters that he had played, it was a remarkably original performance. His ability to blend in with other actors in the film is really amazing. The determination and bitterness of Kabir Khan was portrayed to perfection in his acting and body language.
In all, it was a nice and well integrated movie coupled by some very authentic and inspiring performance by the actors. It is a movie that I would not mind watching again and again :-). Well done girls!