...is it Shahrukh's new look...is it his acceptance of his own age and hence the roles that suit him now ..is it a new found love for hockey ( just in case...)...is it a spirit of patriotism...is it the realistic picture portrayed of Indian National Women's Hockey..the dialogues..or is it just Preeti Saberwal (for those not in the know bout the last one...pls do go for the movie and be in the know...highly recommended!!!)
..well if I were answering an MCQ type paper I would have gone for all of the above. However , having said that, if I could summarise the one reason for success, which may seem latent, I would say ..its just hitting on the right nerve of the Indian public..ie show them success that has come from oodles and oodles of hard work and after wading through an ocean of uncertainties..so that they can for a few moments forget their own personal failures in life and see their own dreams fulfilled...see hard work bear fruit...see life being fair for once..see a a common man/woman turn into a legend...something they wanted to be..and off course..if all this is served to you with sports as a theme...nothing can stop your adrenaline rushing even though you know what the final score line would read at the end of the movie .....u knew it in 'Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander"...u did so in 'Lagaan'..as much in 'Tara Rum Pum' .....in 'Iqbal' and u do so already in the yet to release 'Goal'.
However the movie could have been poorly made too!!! kudos to Yashji for giving us what I would call "SRKs comeback"....some of the things that I really liked here were
- SRK ...yes he was good...no melodrama..no stereo type..plain simple to the point.....just what u would expect from a coach
- The dialogues...the three that really hit me were...
" I am the coach of the Indian national women's team....Mujhe states ke naam na to sunai dete hai......."
" is team mein ek hi gunda hai..aur woh mai hoon."
and the one on
" Sattar minute....sattar minute hai tumhaare paas..."
the last one seeks to convey that one's moments of success are one's own...no one else can take them away...this is just so true for born day dreamers (like me)...who liven up moments of helplessness by going back in time and recalling some victorious incident...inch by inch..
- The team and the behind the scene realities....now there are advantages of having 25+ states....movie makers can cash in on so much variety and chak de surely did. I thought each character in the team was very well characterised ..everyone met a certain clearly defined objective.... and there was again nothing overdone here...everyone had a peculiar trait and that was exploited to the fullest...
- the indirect cricket bashing throughout the movie....the comparison between Indian cricket and Hockey was vividly emphasised.....and I’m sure even the regular “Sachin is God” believers didn’t mind for a change...
- the final moments of the game....we all knew it had to end in a penalty shootout....here though I would’ve personally proffered a goal rather than a save determine the victory......I guess I like attacking a lot more.....
So all in all ...a well made film. In fact I had the privilege of seeing this in Sydney where just behind me sat 5 middle aged aussies (don’t ask me what they were doing there !!!) who actually waited in anticipation for the last penalty hit....who would win was suspense for them...and trust me they looked disappointed with the result (whew...)
....but that just leads me to think....how would the movie have done had they left the hall with smiling faces.....
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5 comments:
mast movie hai yaar... n probably sum of the reasons which u mentioned in the beginning were similar fr which i liked the movie...though the order was reversed :-)
n btw i wud hv liked the climax fr an india pak match final...but theek hai, cricket ki maarni ho to u hv to dress down aussies !!!
good
Went for the movie to Cinemax, Versova tired and dead-beat after a long day.. 11 PM show and it was an absolutlely roller coaster. Got back and couldn't sleep till 5, was so charged with josh.
Also read somewhere that the Mumbai hockey women's team is now seriously inspired to go for the World Cup!!
To respond to Amit, I think it was brilliant marketing by Aditya Chopra by having an Indo-Aussie and not Indo-Pak final since half his NRI market esp in UK, US is from Pakistan
Finally I watched it yesterday at home.....gr8 movie & my dad-in-law (ex hockey player & Bengal coach)said it was true story kind of (based on the life-story of Negi who was suspended after the defeat in 1982 against Pak & then coached the women's team to win the Gold Medal in Manchester Commonwealth Games).....the best part I liked was all the girls looked natural (think of Surmayi Kerkatta from Jharkhand!!!)..and then the part of the Cricket Team Vice-Cptn (Yuvraj Singh????)& his comment that hockey is "gili-danda"...and then the finale where still these girls were shown to be taking the auto-rickshaw home after winning gold (while Sourav Ganguly would have gone home from the airport in Merc after India was out in the prelims in World Cup!!!)
Well written review ! however, you missed out on my favourite dialogue, which not only sends your adrenaline gushing, but also makes you breathe again....
"Preeti, dikha de apne launde ko"..
You cant miss it..a line that captures the melting of ego to a bigger cause...a line that brings to the table a simple truth..that victory is in fact spurted by failure ( a failed relationship in this case)
of course, the dialogue is not the most flattering to your gender, but that it did'nt steal your attention would definitely be a coincidence, Mr Author ?
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