Aug 13, 2007

Movie Review : Chak de India -- Timepass

Before entering the theatre, I had a huge expectation on this movie. All the reviews about the movie and Shah Rukh were too good and most importantly my hopes on the combination of Yash Raj films and Shah Rukh.I was also excited when I came to know that Shah Rukh, for a change, would not be romancing. With Shimit Amin as the director, I was actually expecting a totally different movie experience too.Well, the movie did entertain but failed to live upto my expectation.
The movie is based on a real life story of a hockey player .The hockey player who happens to be the captain of the team is accused of match fixing when the team does not win against pakistan in the finals.The captain being a Muslim is stamped as a traitor and he then makes his comeback after 7 years to the field in the form of a coach to get the Indian womens team ready for the world cup (in 3 months!!!).Quite predictably, they win the world cup and makes everyone in the nation proud.The coach gets his reputation back and the girls makes their individual dreams come true.
The movie is completely based on hockey and so the script demands sequences like training, team building, motivation, leadership and of course since it is a Indian movie, the script also demands one black sheep in the team.There is a scene in the movie at the end where a kid rubs the word ''gaddar'' from a wall. That was on the same wall by another kid and it remains just like that for 7 long years. Why cant we avoid such stupidities from our movies ??

The part which we could really enjoy is when all the sixteen players get introduced and also when we see the misunderstandings between them. Atleast for the first time in Indian movies, the script writers didnt make any references to racism and regional divide and evoke sentiments out of that.There are a couple of scenes where you would feel touched, but thats it.You wouldnt remember any of them after coming out of the hall.

Shah Rukh is at his usual.He just cannot come out of his "King Khan" image and act normally. This time, he has a stubble to make him look serious(I wonder why the shape and color of the stubble changes from scene to scene!).Indeed, it is a pleasure to watch him without any heroines, especially when there arent any scenes showing him cry for all the heroines in the movie.Shah Rukh , probably , is the only hero in Bollywood to have been portrayed as a sports person in so many of his movies.He is a hockey player here, a basket ball player in KKHH, a football player in KANK and a race driver in Baazigar.(He should try wrestling the next time!)The entire 16 girls have done a good job, but one could easily find that some of them are facing the camera for the first time.The rest of the cast does what they usually do.
There is nothing great to mention about the music.It gels with the movie , thats all. But you cant expect a 'mitwa' or a 'chale chalo' here. I guess, for the first time, the audio sales for a Yash Raj Film hasnt done well pre-release and there isnt going to be any increase in the sales post-release as well.
Overall, the movie is not so great to talk about.Its a normal entertainer with usual Bollywood masalas and has to be seen only as a timepass over the weekend. The initial collections were only 40% which is very surprising for a Shah Rukh starrer and that too when the movie comes from the Yash Chopra banner.But it would gradually go up and I feel it would end up as an average grosser. After two debacles like 'Tara ram pum' and 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' ; 'Chak de India' could be the next one, making it a hatrick for Yash Raj Films...did they lose their glory??

4 comments:

Shifting Sands said...

Actually, the person on whom the story is based was not a Muslim, his name is Mir Negi. Just thought I'd let you know,,,

Anonymous said...

Arre buddy u sounding so much like a movie critic.... Some liberties are allowed in comm films yaar.... Ref Pt : Word gaddar rubbed out after 7 yrs....
Of course how else wld tht impact of triumph be created.

Nyways for me SRK rockssssss.... I just love him.... Muah. So itz a must watch for me ;-)

theSaintlySinner said...

Seriously...you might get a job at the Filmfare review center. After all, they are the ones who give away the "awards" for all the crap movies. It wouldn't be surprising if your well reviewed "Partner" grabs all the awards for this year!

Coming back to the movie, my personal feeling was that the movie was well made. As an inspirational movie, it is upto the mark and serves its purpose. And there are cinematic liberties taken, but which movies is not with such a string attached to it? And inspite of the cliches, I do not remember being bored anytime during the movie (unlike your well reviewed movies in this site).It makes you think about the plight of the women's game in India - we hardly know of the success the women's team go through. Hockey, being our national sport, is no longer our focus. If you look at its history, its the only sport that has brought us the world wide recognition.

After Swades, I thought SRK gave a very restrained performance. No hamming as such. Short dialogues presented, making his points clear.

All in all, CDI, I firmly belive that Chak De India, is not a timepass movie. It makes you think and also makes you realise the strides the young movie makers are taking these days, moving away from the usual formulae.

Reets said...

Hi Vimmuuu,
Just Happened to read ur Chak De India Review and well I feel that the movie was well made and it had a message to convey about team spirit.Some degree of filmy bits tho hona hi hai, its a yash raj film whatsoever.
I personally liked the scene- where Shahrukh mentions to Bindiya Naik- "Har team mein sirf ek goonda hotha hai aur is team ka goonda mein hoon".The 16 gals hv done a pretty decent job keeping in mind the fact, that they are debutants.Chak De however reflects true sportsmanship wherein a Sportsperson who was let down by the country strives really hard to win back his lost glory. Its Worth being watched once 4 sure!SRK has done well and cannot imagine anyone else other than King Khan playing Kabir Khan's role.