Chak De - Movie Review

Chak de India

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Vidya Malvade, Sagarika Ghatge, Chitrashi Rawat, Shilpa Shukla Direction: Shimit Amin Music: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant

Production: Aditya Chopra

One of the most anticipated movies of the year churned out by Bollywood, Chak de India loosely follows the footsteps of many Hollywood movies exploring the aspects of sports genre.

Chak de India is basically an experiment in the sports genre, which is slowly getting its takers in India after the success of Lagaan, Iqbal, and the recently released box office fiasco Apne. Though the movie looks more like an ‘inspiration’ from the Hollywood movie The Mighty Ducks and Miracle, it has been sprinkled with some desi spices to make it stand apart from its English counterparts.

Chak De India is about a hockey captain played by Shahrukh Khan who is falsely alleged of being a traitor after he misses a goal in the world cup final. After seven years of isolation, he hits back to reclaim his lost pride by coaching the Indian woman’s hockey team. Shahrukh khan eventually builds a team and succeeds in making them the best.

The movie has a wafer thin story line and it heavily relies on the screenplay, of which Shimit Amin doesn’t disappoint. The director has done a neat job in presenting this movie on the silver screen. Though the pace does get affected half way, Chak de has every aspect to prove to be a joy ride. Dialogues are power packed with witty and motivational undertones woven together with great care to register an impact. There are some scenes that stand out, like the match between the Indian team and Argentina. Though the scene lasts only for a couple of moments, is still a delight to watch. And the fight sequence in the restaurant is captured in celluloid immaculately.

Shahrukh stands tall with his head straight and chin up and a commendable performance with moments to prove why he is the best. His superlative performance binds the movie together. Each one of the girls comes up with a superb effort, of the lot Vidya Malvade tops the list with a natural performance, Chitrashi Rawat as Komal Chautala does a splendid job and Tanya Abrol as Balbir Kaur is a revelation.

The technical aspect as expected from any Yash Raj movie is splendid with superb camera work and international standard production values. The cinematography by Sudeep Chatterjee is simply grand keeping in mind that shooting a game like hockey is not an easy task. Music and Background score is one of the high points of the movie.

Overall the movie is an enjoyable watching experience especially in the theatres as the same effect and excitement is bound to lessen while watching in a home theatre. An experiment towards qualitative cinema and the sports genre, Chak de India does succeed in entertaining, that too in style.

Taare Zameen Par - Movie Review!!

Taare Zameen Par

Cast : Aamir Khan, Tanay Chheda, Darsheel Safary, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma, Lalitha Lajmi
Direction: Aamir Khan
Music: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca, Shailendra Barve

Taare Zameen Par is the long awaited movie of Aamir Khan whose last was the unforgettable Rang De Basanti. And thanks to Aamir and Big B’s war of words, Taare Zameen Par just got bigger and bigger. Has Aamir Khan been able to withstand the tremendous hype? Well, it looks like Mr. Perfectionist has done it yet again.

Out of the very few movies based on children which do come to mind - Anjali(Tamil), Makdee (Hindi), Smile, Blue Umbrella, Chain Kuli Ki Main Kulli, Kanathil Muthamittal (Tamil), and Say Salaam India, only Anjali was accepted, even though others got a huge reception in film festivals across the world.

Children’s movie as a genre is rarely explored in India and when the few gems get a poor reception at the box-office, many were not ready to put money on such movies. But when one of the superstars in Indian cinema Aamir decided to make a movie on autistic children and when the official statement was out that he would direct the movie too, it became hot in the trade.

Taare Zameen par is about a Dyslexic boy, Ishaan (Darsheel Safary), who lives in his own world of stars, spaceships and colors, with little or no concentration in his studies. Ishaan’s parents, especially his father, is not ready to let his son stray and packs him off to a boarding school to get disciplined. But the decision slowly becomes a blunder as Ishaan becomes lonely and stops talking to anyone. In comes a vibrant young teacher with the heart of gold Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) who understands the turmoil the kid is going through and decides to help him. Whether Ram Nikumbh is successful in his mission forms the crux of the movie that is worth watching.

The movie is sure to become a benchmark for all the debutant directors and if a debutant director is able to achieve even half of what Aamir Khan did in his debut directorial venture, he/she can consider it a feat. The movie is a product direct from Aamir’s heart. It could otherwise have been a promising entry from India to the Oscars but for some clichéd and melodramatic scenes.

Darsheel Safary as Ishaan steals the prize with a flawless performance. But in the first half we can see a lot of Aamir khan in him but then that’s a good thing. The debutant just carries off the movie on his small shoulders and he definitely has a strong shoulder. Next in line is Tisca Chopra as Ishaan’s mother who is a complete natural and depicts the plight of a helpless wife and a worrying mother with unusual ease, the scene in which she cries when Ishaan is sent to the boarding school is something, which should not be missed. Sachet Engineer as Ishaan’s brilliant elder brother is a treat to watch and thanks to his well-etched character, he remains with us long after the movie is over. Aamir Khan as usual brings out the right emotions with admirable ease, even though he comes just before the interval, it was a wait well worth it. Vipin Sharma as Ishaan’s strict father is just about ok, but the scene in which he is left speechless by Aamir when he tries to justify his love towards his son will surely draw in a lot of claps.

The movie is technically brilliant; from the imaginative special effect works to the artistic cinematography by Setu, most of it seems to be flawless. But amidst all these things stands a trio whose work in this movie is just too good to be true - poetic rendition of the songs by Shankar, Ehsaan, and Loy. The songs are all finely rendered and amazingly penned by Prasoon Jhoshi, especially the song on mother, which is sure to fetch him almost all the major awards for the best lyrics. Dialogues are too natural which goes well with the treatment of the theme.

Overall it is a movie, an emotional roller coaster, which will surely be appreciated by the multiplex audience. If Rang De Basanti created a revolution amongst the youth, this movie will surely be a boon for the parents to know their children better. Although it slightly misses the perfect mark, Taare Zameen Par is still a valiant effort and a movie not to be missed.