Chak De India!

Chak De India is a film that deals with many issues including revenge, teamwork, discipline, and unity. A star field hockey player named Kabir Khan returns to the game after missing a penalty shot for his home country of India in the final game. Now he’s coaching a women’s team, with star players from all different regions of India. This turns out to be a challenge, because there is rivalry between players and they never understand the concept of playing for a team as one country. The Indian girls have a lot to prove, for they are always overlooked and underestimated. As the story goes, the team becomes incredibly successful and actually ends up winning the world championships in a shootout.  Although the storyline is sometimes predictable, the plot is one of those “feel-good” stories.

Being from the U.S., I had never heard of field hockey before seeing this foreign film. In fact, I actually “googled” field hockey jut to confirm that it was a real sport. There’s a nice touch to the movie when you can say that you learned something new from watching it.

From just watching Chak De, one can learn a lot about Indian culture. Women still do not have the same rights as males, however that is slowly changing in their society. Also, there is a huge emphasis on community and national pride. These are also cultural bridges from India to the U.S. I can personally relate to the hockey players on this women’s team for different reasons. Over the course of the movie, the team comes to understand work ethic, teamwork, and passion. These are all values that an athlete must have. Respect is another of those values that is extremely important when you’re playing a team sport.  

In conclusion, I did enjoy Chak De India! I was hoping that we would get to see an Indian film in Global Film Studies class, and luckily we did with this movie. My favorite thing about this movie is that it was based off a sports game, and it allowed me to get a better sense for a country that never really gets a lot of my attention. I must say that I am looking forward to the next movie we will be watching in class!

P.S. If you were curious at all, “Chak De India!” literally means “Go India!”

(This chant could be heard when the team was playing in the world championships)