Story
Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) is branded as a traitor after he loses the match against Pakistan in the capacity of the captain for Indian hockey team. Everybody hates him. After 7 years, he comes back as the coach for Indian women hockey team. The rest of the story is all about how he trains the 16 women of various states, different mindsets and attitudes to play as one and win the world cup.

Actors performances
Shahrukh Khan did the role of a brilliant coach whose respect is battered by the misconception and the media. He is exceptional as an inspiring and tough coach. The actor in Shahrukh dominates the star in this film. It is nice to see Shahrukh Khan doing purposeful films like Swadesh and Chak De India once in a while. The girls who played the women hockey team are exceptionally good. The girls who did the roles of Preeti, Balbir and Komal dominate the scene.

Story - Screenplay - direction: The story of the film is about a typical underdog winning the game. The aspect of coach seeking redemption by making his team win added lot of grip to the story. What makes this film different is extraordinary script writing and superb direction. Screenplay is just perfect. The entire film is realistic barring certain episodes demanding creative freedom. The writer avoided the board's politics aspect in the storyline, in order to focus on establishing each and every character of player well and then show how they change their attitude to become team players. The following scenes are defining moments of the film -

1. The McDonald's scene where the entire team shows team spirit by entering into a physical fight with the eve teasers.
2. The applause team gets after playing against the men's team
3. The phone call from Shukla.
4. Coach telling Preeti and Komal about how they can make or mar the match.

Other departments: Cinematography is amazing. Music is good. The background music is peppy and suits the theme. Dialogues are very good. Editing is nice. It is nice to see Yashraj Films producing a purposeful film like this instead of box-office winning inspired popcorn entertainers.

Analysis: The entire first half is concentrated on establishing all the characters in Hockey team and then inculcating the sense of belongingness among the team members. The second half is more entertaining with nice twists and engaging games. The plus points of the film are writing (Jaideep Sahni), performances (Shahrukh Khan), direction (Shimit Amin) and Cinematography (Sudeep Chatarjee). It is a sensible and a brilliant film with soul. On a whole, Chak De India (along with Lagaan and Iqbal) is one the best sports based films ever made in India. A must watch for everybody!!

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