Leadership lessons

I saw the latest Shahrukh Khan movie Chak De India last

Friday. I really enjoyed the whole movie - the story was
simple, characters full of personality, there was humor, defeat,
victory and the game of hockey! Watching the movie, I kept
thinking about how it relates to leadership and management in
today’s times.

Here are a few points:

• Nothing is better for you than your biggest failure

• If you have the talent, passion and commitment, you can
make underdogs win
• Unless pushed to limits, your team will not perform at its
best
• People always want easy things, and it is difficult to
overcome cynicism
• Be strict and straight with your team. You don’t have to
always be nice with them
• In short, be ruthlessly compassionate!
• Strategy is important - know the team members
individual strengths and weaknesses
• There is no alternate to hard work, not even smart work!
• If you are after a cause big enough, you will always have
people to support you
• Follow your heart!

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).

REVIEW

Chak De India : Movie Review

Chak De India is a beautifully made film that makes you

laugh, makes you cry, gives you goose bumps, and stirs up
patriotism inside you. It is a film that every lover of good
cinema must watch.

It is heartening to see Yashraj Films move away from their

stereotypical mushy romances and sentimental family dramas.
Sports, in itself, is not a popular genre in Bollywood. On top of
it, ‘Chak De India’ has no love angle even though it has Shah
Rukh Khan playing the leading man alongside 16 new girls.
Despite so many odds, ‘Chak De India’ turns out to be a
riveting film. Reason – excellent writing (by Jaideep Sahni),
well etched-out characters, brilliant performances (by Shah
Rukh, Shilpa Shukla, Sagarika Ghatge and Chitrashi Rawat)
and, last but not the least, superb direction by Shimit Amin .
I cannot recall a single dull moment in the film. From the word
go, the movie grips you like a vice and keeps you riveted until
the end credits roll. During this ‘Chak De’ ride, you go through
myriad emotions. You empathize with the pain of the
protagonist, cherish the clashes and camaraderie of the girls,
and you are filled with an uplifting, charged-up feeling as you
see the underdogs rise to the occasion.

To cut to the chase, ‘Chak De India’ keeps you on the edge of

your seat, even though it is a sports-based film and not a
thriller.

The film’s story is simple and yet it carries so many

undercurrents.

Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh), the best centre-forward in Indian

hockey team, misses the crucial, last-minute penalty stroke
against Pakistan and is blamed for the Indian team’s defeat in
the finals. So much so, he is labeled gaddar (betrayer) by his
own fellow countrymen. Disgraced and dishonored for one
momentary failure, Kabir Khan leaves his parental house with
his mother and disappears into oblivion.

Seven years later he appears again, not as a player but as a

coach of a bunch of girls in whom even the Hockey Federation
has no confidence. Kabir Khan has just three months to coach
and train these girls for the Hockey World Cup in Australia.

The girls come from all over India – Haryana, Chandigarh,

Punjab, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, North East and other
states.

On the outside, Kabir Khan is very strict with the girls.

Through his toughness he wants to instill discipline and
integrity in the team, something which is significantly missing.

Within the team, there is hardly any camaraderie. There are

usual girlie fights and arguments. Somebody is egoistic,
somebody too self-centered, somebody is hot-tempered and
somebody is simply naïve.

Using very unconventional methods, Kabir Khan manages to

create a team spirit among the girls. But some differences
remain, only to be sorted out in the World Cup tournament in
Australia, which the team must win to make India proud. But
Kabir Khan is fighting for more than pride for India. For him
the victory would bring redemption (for his momentary failure
7 years ago) and reclamation of his lost honour. And when
that moment of reckoning does come, he looks on with
disbelief in his teary eyes.

‘Chak De India’ is not just a sports film. It is replete with

myriad emotions. And the best part is that Shimit Amin tells
the story very realistically, making it all the more believable.
He also doesn’t bring any unnecessary dramatization into the
story.

The movie has a number of intelligently conceived sequences.

For instance, a sequence when the girl’s hockey team has to
prove their mettle against the men’s team. The girls lose by a
narrow margin, but they get an applause and salutation from
male players. Or another sequence when the girls bash up a
bunch of eve teasers. These sequences and the last portions of
the second half – when the crucial matches are played – evoke
a flood of emotions inside a viewer.

A constant thread of humour runs through the film’s narrative.

The humour is vernacular, and genuinely funny at that. The
funniest of the lot is the rustic Haryanavi girl Komal (Chitrashi
Rawat) and the hot-tempered Punjabi girl Balbir Kaur (Tanya
Abrol).

After a long time – perhaps since Swades – Shah Rukh gives

a substantial reason to write something about his acting. The
superstar doesn’t go overboard in his performance in ‘Chak
De’– there is no quivering of lips and no heavy breathing.
Using his facial expressions and intense eyes to his advantage,
with utmost conviction SRK plays a man simmering and
seething within. Undoubtedly, this one is a praiseworthy
performance from the King Khan.
SRK isn’t the sole focus of the film. Ample footage is given to
the girls. Shilpa Shukla (as the egoistic Bindia) delivers a
laudable performance. She maintains a snooty, high-headed
demeanor throughout the film. Sagarika Ghatge (as the
attacking forward player Preeti Sabarwal) is convincing. Vidya
Malvade (as the goalie) plays her part well.

To conclude this review, let me say objectively that ‘Chak De

India’ surpasses the expectations that I had begun to have
from Yashraj Films of late. A great deal of credit for this
gripping film should go to director Shimit Amin, who never lets
the technicalities, the cinematic style (or still better the visual
beauty) overtake the essence of the story.

At the end of the day, ‘Chak De India’ is a deeply touching film

that offers plenty for you to carry home with.

Do yourself a favour, go and see this film. It is a must-watch.