“Chak De! India” ( “Go, India!” ) - NYT Review

The making-of-a-team sports movie is a timeworn genre, and yet “Chak De! India” (“Go, India!”) finds new variations. Though the game here is field hockey, those fondly recalling the United States soccer team’s first-place finish in the 1991 Women’s World Cup will find a lot to like.

Of course, there are conventions. Kabir Khan (the assured Bollywood veteran Shahrukh Khan) is a former player for India’s national field hockey team who missed a fateful play against Pakistan, costing a championship and making him a pariah. Seven years later, he is hired to coach the nation’s women’s hockey team, giving him one more shot at a title.

The players, from states all over India, are a fractious lot, including a tomboy (Chitrashi Rawat) whose father fears she will never marry; a forward (Sagarika Ghatge) whose boyfriend, a cricket superstar, wants her to quit the team and live in his shadow; a newlywed goalie (Vidya Malavade) whose in-laws expect her to stay at home; and a haughty, seasoned player (Shilpa Shukla) who needles the coach.

When leering boys at a McDonald’s harass them, a girls-against-boys melee erupts, but the coach doesn’t interfere, knowing the team will prevail — and find its spirit. From there, it’s on to the women’s hockey championships in Melbourne, Australia.

The director, Shimit Amin, strikes a buoyant, propulsive tone, replacing the customary Bollywood production numbers with exhilarating musical montages of team practice. For his part, Mr. Khan, to his credit, lets his co-stars’ youthful charisma carry the movie. He also laudably portrays a man who vigorously and unabashedly advocates the advancement of women.

In fact, the film’s greatest merit is its commentary on sexism in India. As it should, “Chak De! India” gives the women, in the closing credits, the last word.

CHAK DE! INDIA

Opened yesterday nationwide.

Directed by Shimit Amin; written (in Hindi, with English subtitles) by Jaideep Sahni; edited by Amitabh Shukla; music by Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant; art director, Sukant Panigrahy; produced by Aditya Chopra; released by Yash Raj Films. In Manhattan at the Imaginasian Theater, 239 East 59th Street. Running time: 152 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Shahrukh Khan (Kabir Khan), Vidya Malavade (Vidya Sharma), Chitrashi Rawat (Komal), Sagarika Ghatge (Preeti) and Shilpa Shukla (Bindia Naik).

By: ANDY WEBSTER Source: NewYorkTimes