Chak De India

Previous Reviews [1][2][3].

A marathi playing the role of a Chandigarh'ite, a Garhwali that of a Haryanvi, a Kerlaite that of a Bengali; isn't that the best example of National Integration? But even more, it is testimony to the script and direction of the movie - Chak De India!.

Chak De India, indeed excels in both the screenplay and direction. The story of Mir Ranjan Negi, rehashed as Kabir Khan's tale is inspiring - but the way each character in the movie is etched, is what makes it even more interesting. Whether it is the brash Komal Chautala (played by Chitrashi Rawat), the bright striker Preeti Sabarwal (Sagarika Ghatge) or the no-nonsense Nethra Reddy (Sandia Furtado) - each character is believable yet far from being stereotypical.

The story is based on the life of Mir Ranjan Negi - but the writer (Jaideep Sahni) has also successfully integrated issues like regionalism, groupism, and arrogance of seniors into it.

Shilpa Shukla gets full points for her portrayal of the arrogant senior Bindiya Naik. Similarly, the silent rivalry between bright players (Komal and Preeti) is well presented. I am sure each one of us have been through situations in school, college or workplace in which we have faced or witnessed all the above issues.

The screenplay should get 200/100 - for adding enough wit, humour into the seeming serious storyline. Komal Chautala's dialogues are outright witty, so are sequences illustrating the ignorance of Indians about each other's regions. Balbir Kaur is another funny character, and the sequence where the attendant asks Netra Reddy's about the difference between Tamil and Telugu is so typical of Delhi that one cannot but smile.

Coming to Shahrukh, Chak De once again proves that Shahrukh is a great actor - and it is more because of certain directors which he gets stereotyped. This is undoubtedly one of his best and most natural performances after Swades!!