"Chak De! India" have the potential to give a new lease of life to hockey in India

In a country that eats, drinks and sleeps cricket, a movie on hockey certainly bucks the trend. But when Shah Rukh Khan waves the magic stick saying "Chak De! India", the audience stands up and applauds.

Sans glamour, romance and even a leading lady, King Khan plays the Indian women's hockey team coach who boosts the spirit of the girls, trains them and leads them to success - all the while rousing passions for the much maligned national game.

Ajit Pal Singh, former captain of the Indian hockey team and an Olympian, believes movies like "Chak De! India" have the potential to give a new lease of life to hockey in India.

"I am sure that more movies like 'Chak De' can attract more youngsters to hockey. When I was young, cricket and hockey had an equal following but today cricket has clearly surpassed hockey," Singh told IANS.

Singh, however, believes the interest kindled in the game can be maintained only with the help of institutional support. "The place where players are made and passions are lit is school. In fact, there are many schools that have good hockey teams but they never stick together to play on at a later stage.

"The government should step in and encourage schools to maintain their hockey teams. Also the conception that hockey is not as glamorous, doesn't attract sponsors and doesn't offer as much money as cricket, should be removed. Only then will more youngsters take this game more seriously," Singh said.

"It is the number one sport. Unfortunately it has lost its popularity in India. But hopefully such a medium can bring back the glory of the game." Adam Wallish, a member of the Australian Hockey Board, said the film had the potential to revive interest in the game.

"The film will give a much-needed boost to Indian hockey, given the fact that it is going through one of its darkest phases," Wallish said. Despite being the national game, the Indian government had demoted hockey from the 'priority' to the 'general' category of sports because of the continuous poor showing of the national team in all major tournaments in recent years.

However, the successes at the 16th Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Malaysia in May and at last month's Champions Challenge Cup in the Netherlands, where India won the bronze, were a ray of hope for hockey lovers.

After watching the movie, most people are sure that it will definitely attract more young people to the game.

Ananya Mukherjee who had gone to watch the film with her husband can't help praising it to the skies.

"It was a wonderful movie and I can probably watch it 10 times more! This is, frankly, one of Shah Rukh's best performances and via him, I am sure hockey will regain its lost glory and encourage youngsters to take it up," she said.

Aneeta Mehta, a public relations executive, said: "Shah Rukh is good, there's no doubt about it. But the rest of the team - the girls - were superb too. Hailing from different states, they portrayed the typical challenges a team faces in building the team spirit."

Close on the heels of "Chak de! India" is coming up another sports movie, "Goal". A John Abraham and Arshad Warsi starrer, this movie plays around the central theme of football.

Some other Indian movies based on sports that have done very well are "Lagaan", "Iqbal" and "Awwal Number", "Hip Hip Hurray" and "Saheb".

Source: NowRunning

"Shah Rukh Khan can give impetus to Indian hockey", Olympian Aslam Sher Khan

Indian hockey might soon have patronage of Bollywood superstars with veteran players trying to grab the opportunity provided by Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Chak De India' to revive the national game.

"Shah Rukh Khan can give impetus to Indian hockey and revive the game that was slowly and surely struck down from hearts of millions of people after reaching zenith of popularity during 1975 World Cup," Olympian Aslam Sher Khan told PTI here.

Having found a ray of hope to revive the game, the former player said he has written to the SRK requesting him to become a 'brand ambassador' of the sport.

Khan played a stellar role in India's World Cup win. His father was an equally popular hockey player and part of the Indian Olympic squad on several occasions.

Aslam said 'Chak De India' has attracted young sportspersons towards hockey and the the trend could be explored to regain the lost glory.

"After Shah Rukh's effort, it looks to me that the time for hockey which had come to a standstill, has started ticking again," Khan said.

The golden era for hockey will return following an endeavour by the actor who might act as a catalyst to move the youth to take up hockey seriously, he hoped.

Source: PressTrustofIndia

SRK's 'Mast Kalandar'

If presence of Akshay, Ritiesh and Fardeen along with a cute kid wasn't enough, a slew of entertaining tracks ensured that the film saw an increase in eyeballs as it neared it's release. The item number featuring an 'All girls Band' took the promotion to a different level altogether while some genuinely funny promos on the small screen have already been popular amongst all age groups.

So what do producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Sajid Khan do? They go for the kill by roping in Shahrukh Khan for a very special appearance in the film and the first thing which King Khan does is sing and dance.

Yes, for HEYY BABYY, apart from playing an important part in the film, he also features in a rocking fusion qawalli 'Mast Kalandar' which is set to tune by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The sets are as glossy as they get in a Chopra/Johar film while SRK's towering presence ensures that the frames reach a different high as he dances along with Akshay and Ritiesh.

No wonder, HEYY BABYY continues to create a rocking impression as it takes huge strides towards it's 24th August release.

Source: IndiaGlitz

SRK's love interest in Chak De ! India

After watching Yash Chopra’s Chak De India directed by Shimit Aman, I am now sure that there is hope as far as Hindi Cinema is concerned.

Chak De India makes a riveting viewing and when the film is on you do not even feel like going to the loo. Shah Rukh Khan who had mesmerized me with his natural acting when he had sauntered in with Raj Kanwar’s Deewana almost seventeen years ago has actually ‘acted’ in a film of his after a long time.

It is great to see Shah Rukh Khan in great form as a coach whose singular am is to train the women hockey team in Chak De India. He does not carry with him his typical mannerisms as a star. He does not cavort around the trees with any nubile nymphet. In fact, there is no leading lady for Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De India though there is a veiled reference to his affair with Vidya Malavade. I am told that though Shimit had shot a flash back sequence of SRK with Vidya, it was edited out keeping in mind the tight narrative of the film, since after two debacles like Tara Rum Pum and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Yashraj Films did not want to take yet another panga with the audience.

With Chak De India , SRK has at last come of age, as an actor. SRK has always been frank and does not mince words when he chooses to give you an interview. Kudos to SRK for going on record stating that it was a different experience for him to work with most of the sixteen young girls who had acted in the film with him since they must have been around six yearsold when he had made his debut seventeen years back.

Like Parineeta and Lage Raho Munnabhai earlier and Chak De India now, like SRK, I also have had a reality check and am beginning to feel ancient, like SRK. Because Sagarika Ghatge who has rendered a brilliant performance for a first timer in Chak De India as Chandigarh‘s hockey player Preeti Sabharwal happens to be the daughter of my good friend Vijay Ghatge who had directed Shubh Yatra earlier. Though Vijay does not want Sagarika to be known as the daughter of the director who had made Shubh Yatra, I have told Vijay that Sagarika need not be ashamed to admit that she is his daughter since he had made an off beat film like Shubh Yatra and not a C grade film like say Reshma Ki Jawani.

Time For a Reality Check in Bollywood!

The new generation is now all set to rock Bollywood in a big way. Chak De India!

Source: Afternoon & DespatchCourier